Participatory plant breeding in Cuba

The national agricultural research organization Instituto Nacional de Ciencias Agrícolas (INCA), in collaboration with several other public research institutes, universities, NGOs, local government units and financial support by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), has engaged in participatory plant breeding (PPB) since 1999. The first project started with few farmers from three municipalities in two provinces, and was expanded to 11 provinces. Initially, it covered only beans and maize, and later, it included other crops such as, grains, vegetables, fruit trees, roots and tubers. Core components of PPB include collaboration between farmers and scientists. Farmers are actively involved in priority setting, selection, evaluation, and dissemination activities. The resulting varieties are adapted to local soil and climate conditions. Hundreds of varieties distributed to the farmers and today form part of the Cuban ‘agricultural landscape’. The initiative generated a national movement favoring local innovation and demonstrated the potentials of empowering farming communities in terms of quantity and quality crop production. Farmers’ involvement in the selection and experimentation work has also facilitated the revaluation of their knowledge, inducing reforms in the research sector and higher education system in Cuba.