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For the breeding system to be more
responsive to the real needs of farmers,
it must work more closely with them and
allow farmers to participate
meaningfully in the research process.
The key roles of farmers, their
knowledge and their social organization
must be recognized in the management and
maintenance of agricultural
biodiversity. |
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The first participatory breeding
experience in Iran was started in autumn
2006 with the support of ICARDA and the
Ministry of Jihad for Agriculture. The
project has the strong interest and
support of some researchers, as well as
policy makers, and farmers. It is also
clear that participatory breeding has
been very successful in other
countries. |
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The project was started in Kermanshah
province and in
Garmsar township (Semnan
province). The project in Kermanshah was
initiated in the context of the
CGIAR’s
Challenge Program on Water and Food.
In Kermanshah, there is a lot of
interest in wheat in particular because
although the province has very wide
cultivation of bread wheat (over 500,000
ha’s) and
there are at least half a dozen
different climatic zones in the
province, there is only one variety of
wheat readily available on the seed
market. Therefore the Ministry itself is
strongly interested in developing a
wider variety of wheat seeds for the
various climatic zones. |
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Cenesta is consulting the Seed and Plant
Certification Research Institute of the
Ministry of Jihad-e-Agriculture to
identify how the varieties that result
from participatory breeding programmes
can be marketed and exchanged legally in
Iran. |
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