CBN-V Video Archives - S1-09
Participatory Research in Cassava Breeding with Farmers in Northeast Brazil

Gonçalves Fukuda W.M.

Cassava Breeder, Researcher of Embrapa Cassava and Fruits, POBOX 007, CEP 44380.000, Cruz das Almas, Bahia, Brazil wfukuda@cnpmf.embrapa.br

        Participatory research with farmers is gaining acceptance in institutions and programs that seek to develop technologies for sustainable development in rural areas. Among these institutions are breeding programs in several Latin American and Caribbean countries. Participatory plant breeding (PPB) is a research approach that facilitates the close interaction among farmers, researchers and other actors in the genetic improvement of crops. With this approach researchers are able to respond more precisely and efficiently to the needs and preferences of resource-poor farmers and their markets/clients, which are not always reached by the public agricultural research system. Cassava varieties resulting from this process are developed more rapidly and have higher adoption rates than those produced by means of conventional breeding. By the end of a PPB process it is expected that farmers and other participants have refined their capacities, are able to continue working more independently and can apply the principles of research to solving problems in other fields of rural development as management and biotechnology techniques. This paper reports participatory cassava breeding experience with farmers from northeastern Brazil, implemented by the Brazilian Center for Research on Cassava and Fruits (EMBRAPA-CNPMF) in collaboration with the regional rural extension services, NGOs, farmers’ associations and individual farmers.

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