How the Seed of Participatory Plant Breeding Found Its Way in the World through Adaptive Management
Participatory plant breeding (PPB), where farmers and formal breeders collaborate in the breeding process, can be a form of agricultural niche innovation. In PPB, new varieties are commonly adopted by the farmers involved and shared through seed networks, but few are released and commercialized; thus, the variety remains a niche innovation, used within a limited network of beneficiaries. PPB is increasingly emerging to address the needs of organic farmers in the Global North, yet barriers to implementation and institutionalization limit the ability to embed PPB into commercial channels of seed distribution. This case study of a PPB project in the US explores, through the lens of adaptive management, critical points in the commercial release of an organic sweet corn variety, which expanded the innovation beyond the niche environment. The authors show how evolving the actors’ roles, expanding the network of participants, and leveraging opportunities that emerged during the process aided in shifting institutional and market norms that commonly restrict the ability to embed PPB varieties in the formal seed system. They further demonstrate that distribution through the formal seed system did not limit access through informal net-works; instead, it created a ripple effect of stimulating additional, decentralized breeding, and distribution efforts.
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article/Letter to editor biblioteca |
| Language: | English |
| Subjects: | Adaptive management, Niche innovation, Organic seed systems, Participatory plant breeding, Ripple effect, Seed networks, Seed systems, |
| Online Access: | https://research.wur.nl/en/publications/how-the-seed-of-participatory-plant-breeding-found-its-way-in-the |
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