Efficiency of Plant Breeding

This paper aims to demonstrate that Participatory plant breeding (PPB) should be practiced because it increases plant breeding efficiency. After reviewing the reasons for the lack of adoption of several of the varieties released, and the theoretical basis justifying the use of correlated response to measure selection gains, the issue of the benefit/cost ratio is discussed within the context of adoption rates. The assumption is that without adoption, no benefit will occur. Ways to increase the three measures of breeding efficiency are discussed in detail, and the conclusion is made that the three measures can be increased by combining decentralized selection with farmers' participation in a PPB program. The essential features of a PPB program are reviewed, including the experimental designs and statistical analysis used to increase the precision of on-farm trials. The findings show that PPB increases breeding efficiency, both in terms of response to selection measured over the time from the initial cross to adoption and in terms of the benefit/cost ratio as a consequence of a higher adoption rate.