PARTICIPATORY VARIETAL SELECTION (PVS)

Many farmers grow old varieties or landraces, and hence fail to benefit from the most modern products of plant breeding. One of the main reasons for low cultivar replacement rates is that farmers have inadequate exposure to new cultivars. One way of increasing the speed of adoption of new varieties is for farmers to be given a wide range of novel cultivars to test for themselves in their own fields. The method we use is termed participatory varietal selection (PVS).

The cultivars should be selected carefully. To save time and ensure availability of seed we have used already-released cultivars, not only from the target region, but from other regions or countries. For example, in India, rice and maize cultivars can be found that have only been released and widely grown in a single state, yet have a potential to be useful in others.

PVS is limited, however, to employing the existing variation among cultivars, and sometimes well-accepted cultivars cannot be found. In this situation we can turn to participatory plant breeding or client-oriented breeding.

Vist the PSP project database and virtual library for further details.

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