Participatory plant breeding as a method of rice breeding

摘要

The total cultivated area in Jharkhand is 26 million ha; 70% of this is grown to rice. The productivity of rice in Jharkhand is 11 ha~(-1), which is low in comparison with the national average of 2 t ha~(-1). The main cause of low productivity is itscultivation in the rainfed ecology, including 39% in the uplands. The government of India has released 150 varieties of rice for the rainfed uplands, but only a few became popular in farmers' fields. These varieties lack one or other traits preferred byfarmers who operate in this very harsh environment. Moreover, farmers are not really involved in the breeding process. Therefore, varieties bred by the public sector are not readily accepted by rainfed upland farmers.