8–14 October 2000 Linking theory with practice in… …Genetic resource management …Biodiversity conservation …Plant breeding …Biotechnology …Economics and marketing …Social contexts …Case studies …to meet rising global food needs while conserving genetic diversity and increasing economic well-being of farmers Abstracts Citation: GRCP. 2000. Scientific basis of participatory plant breeding and conservation of genetic resources, Oaxtepec, Morelos, MEXICO, October 8–14, 2000. Abstracts. Report No. 25. University of California Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Genetic Resources Conservation Program, Davis CA USA. ã 2000 Regents of the University of California Program committee Local arrangements Wanda Collins, chair Alfonso Delgado, Robert Bye, Lucero Mera, and Mauricio Bellon Toby Hodgkin Jorge A. Saldivar Sandoval, Universidad Nacional Asmund Bjornstad Mike Jackson Autónoma de México Tony Brown Rene Salazar Clemente Villanueva Verduzco, Steve Brush Steve Smith Maximino Ramírez Ayala, Silvia Pliego Monreal, Salvatore Ceccarelli Daniela Soleri Luis Fuentes López, and Estela Sánchez Baez, Paul Gepts Lori Ann Thrupp Universidad Autónoma Chapingo Antonio Ramírez Hernández, Colegio de Co-chairs of Symposium Postgraduados Cal Qualset, University of California Genetic Re- Gilberto Esquivel, INIFAP sources Conservation Program Wanda Collins, International Potato Center Ground transportation Vicente García, Francisco Gerardo Márquez, Symposium secretariat Tomás Rojas, Oscar Sosa, Jose Alonso Macías, Ardeshir B. Damania, University of California Genetic Oscar Mario Villaseñor, Julio César Fernández, and Resources Conservation Program Gilberto Días öööööööööööööööööööööö Symposium sponsors (as of October 2, 2000): The McKnight Foundation; Pioneer Hi-Bred, Int.; CIMMYT; CIP; ICARDA; IPGRI; IRRI; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; University of California Genetic Resources Conservation Program; Dept. for International Development, Plant Sciences Research Program, University of Wales Botanical Garden-National Autonomous University of Mexico; Autonomous University of Chapingo; Postgraduate College, Montecillo; College of Mexico; Plenary presentations Strengthening of community management for edge cannot be separated from their cultural values and fun- agricultural biodiversity: A way to implement the damental rights to self-determination, land and territories, Global Plan of Action for Conservation and self-development and environment protection. Participatory Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Plant Breeding is one example of a situation in which the flow of knowledge from local farmers and indigenous peo- Resources for Food and Agriculture ples to scientists and “experts”, raises the issue of how to Murthi Anishetty and Tina Huvio develop appropriate systems for the protection of community knowledge. Plant Production and Protection Div., Food and Agri- This paper presents the views of ANDES on establishing culture Organization (FAO/UN), Via delle Terme di community property rights systems, which may be utilized Caracalla, 00100 Rome, ITALY for the protection of community knowledge in situations The sustainable management of plant genetic resources and such as Participatory Plant Breeding projects. The commu- other aspects of agricultural biodiversity by farmers and nity protocol, whereby communities articulate their needs their communities, is a prerequisite to achieving sustainable and define their own rights, is presented as an alternative to food and livelihood security. The Global Plan of Action for strengthen local rights and to preserve local people’s knowl- Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic edge and associated biological resources. The use of such Resources for Food and Agriculture (GPA) adopted by 150 protocols, which are built on customary laws and established countries at the Fourth International Technical Conference within the local values system, ensures that the benefits de- on Plant Genetic Resources at Leipzig, Germany in 1996. rived from the use of the local indigenous knowledge flow The GPA recognized the important role played by the farm- directly to the community. ers and their communities in the national plant genetic re- sources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) programs. Coun- Of participation in participatory plant breeding: An tries committed to carryout this GPA in cooperation with all analysis of two common assumptions stakeholders. FAO is promoting and catalyzing the imple- mentation of the priority activities of the Global Plan Action Mauricio R. Bellon through technical assistance and support to countries in International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center identification, development and implementation of specific (CIMMYT), AP 6-641, 06600 México, D.F., MEXICO activities of interest to national programs. The GPA includes a priority activity, “Supporting On-farm Management and Participatory plant breeding (PPB) refers to a range of ap- Improvement of Plant Genetic Resources”. This activity proaches that involve users more closely in crop improve- aims to strengthening of community management of agri- ment and seed supply. This presentation examines different cultural biodiversity. FAO using gender sensitive participa- modes of farmer involvement in PPB to analyze two com- tory approaches, drawing up the experience of “Farmer Field mon assumptions: a) more participation is always better, and Schools” for Integrated Pest Management projects and other b) participation benefits the poor. It argues that while par- relevant approaches such as “seed fairs”, participatory plant ticipation generates benefits to farmers, it also entails costs breeding activities assisting a few countries in the imple- and trade-offs. Therefore there are optimal levels of farmer mentation of GPA activity on on-farm management and im- involvement. In PPB these optima may be a function of the provement of PGRFA. The paper will provide detailed in- crop and its biology, the traits of interest, the farmers and formation on the Global Plan of Action including FAO ac- their characteristics, the agroecological environment and its tivities in its implementation, in particular, activities related heterogeneity, and the scale of the PPB effort. There may be to community management of PGRFA. an inverse relationship between the scale of the effort and the level of farmer involvement. Furthermore, at any scale Participatory plant breeding and community the costs of participation to the poor may increase more rapidly than to other groups. They may have less time avail- property rights: Developing access and benefit able, less ability and willingness to take risks, lower educa- sharing community protocols for agrobiodiversity tion levels and in many cases more precarious health. The in the Andes poor may derive lower net benefits from modes of participa- Alejandro Argumedo tion that require high involvement. Therefore, modes of par- ticipation with limited levels of direct farmer involvement Director, Asociación Kechua-Aymara para Comunidades may be the way to reach and benefit large number of poor Sostenibles (ANDES), Cusco, PERU farmers. The most cost-effective forms of engagement need There are fundamental philosophical differences among in- to be identified from case studies. An example from Oaxaca, digenous peoples and non-indigenous stakeholder on the Mexico is presented to show how to make operational the debate regarding access, benefit sharing and the protection research issues derived from this analysis. of indigenous knowledge. While most non-indigenous actors see access to and benefits from traditional knowledge as an economic right, indigenous peoples believe that their knowl- 1 Linking participatory plant breeding to the seed the local needs and knowledge of the farmer with the supply system breeding expertise and resources of the formal sector. Under PPB, both the farmer and breeder share the selection in seg- Michael R. Turner and Zewdie Bishaw regating populations from the earliest stages. From the Seed Unit, ICARDA, PO Box 5466, Aleppo, SYRIA standpoint of conservation, PPB has been advocated as a way to maintain or even enhance the level of genetic diver- There is a strong link between conventional plant breeding sity deployed on farm. The proposal is that PPB can breed and formal seed supply systems. In developed countries, it divergent cultivars for environments that differ on a fine- was the emergence of organized plant breeding based on scale, and for diverse uses; and that PPB adds value to tradi- genetics that generated new named varieties and stimulated tional landraces that would otherwise face eclipse. On the interest in their organized multiplication and marketing by other hand, the success of the products of PPB may stem seed companies. In developing countries likewise, the expe- from the addition of just a few major genes (e.g., for pest rience of the ‘Green Revolution’ in the 1960s promoted in- resistance or plant height). Their inclusion into some local terest in national seed projects and programs which could lines may swamp a significant fraction of local diversity, deliver the products of plant breeding more effectively from leading to a short-term gain in productivity, the loss of local breeder to farmer. The provision of a secure conduit from unimproved populations and increased vulnerability. PPB is research into agriculture remains a major justification for so recent that its impact on the conservation of crop biodi- formal seed activities. versity