Participatory Plant Breeding

What is the role of Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB) in the world of research and development?

PPB has a unique role to play in the scientific world. The biological sciences are at home with improving plants and animals, whereas the social sciences attempt to explain human interaction in psychological and social terms. PPB, on the other hand, calls for these two scientific fields to collaborate with the aim of creating an area of research in which the two are in explicit interaction .

Created in response to the needs of the populations of economically marginalised countries, PPB can claim to have a practical approach with applied objectives . The main challenges of Participatory Plant Breeding are economic and social, which are marked by strong social needs over the short and middle-term (see also Participatory plant breeding and Organic agriculture ).

Our brief history provides an example of how the issues of PPB gradually emerged in the research institution of CIRAD and how the extent of this involvement has familiarised scientists with tools that are multi-disciplinary yet practical. Lastly, we offer links to a number of other teams also active in Participatory Plant Breeding.