International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Hyderabad, India.
International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), New Delhi, India.
PLoS One. 2022 Aug 11;17(8):e0272126. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272126. eCollection 2022.
The research on crop genetic enhancement has created a continuous flow of new, improved germplasm for the benefit of farmers and consumers of the Global South during and after the Green Revolution. Understanding farmers' heterogeneous preferences for varietal traits in different market segments and incorporating the prominent ones in crop breeding programs are expected to facilitate a faster diffusion of these new varieties. Albeit knowing little about farmers' trait preferences in South Asia, public-sector breeding programs prioritize yield enhancement and risk reduction over other varietal traits. Against this backdrop, we examined wheat farmers' preferences for varietal traits in Central India, where the prevailing varietal turnover rate has been meager. We conducted a ranking exercise among 120 individuals, followed by a sex-disaggregated survey with a choice experiment among 420 farm-households in 2019. The lowest varietal turnover rate was observed for the socially marginalized castes. Most women respondents were not actively involved in making decisions related to wheat cultivation, including varietal selection. However, the results indicate that marginalized caste and women farmers are open to experimentation with new varieties, as shown by their positive willingness to pay for improved varietal traits. Across the gender and caste groups, grain quality attributes (especially chapati quality) were ranked high, above the yield-enhancing and risk-ameliorating traits. From the observed patterns, one could deduce that developing and disseminating improved varieties with better grain quality and targeting women and marginalized social groups in varietal dissemination programs could enhance farmer adoption of new, improved germplasm and wheat productivity in Central India.
作物遗传增强的研究在绿色革命期间和之后为全球南方的农民和消费者创造了源源不断的新的、改良的种质资源。了解农民在不同市场细分中对品种特征的异质偏好，并将突出的特征纳入作物育种计划中，有望促进这些新品种更快地传播。尽管对南亚农民的特征偏好知之甚少，但公共部门的育种计划优先重视提高产量和降低风险，而不是其他品种特征。在此背景下，我们在中央邦考察了小麦农民对品种特征的偏好，那里的品种更替率一直很低。我们在 120 个人中进行了排序练习，然后在 2019 年对 420 个农户进行了性别分类调查和选择实验。社会边缘化种姓的品种更替率最低。大多数女性受访者没有积极参与与小麦种植相关的决策，包括品种选择。然而，结果表明，边缘化种姓和女性农民愿意尝试新品种，因为她们对改良品种特征的积极支付意愿表明了这一点。在性别和种姓群体中，谷物质量属性（特别是烙饼质量）的排名都很高，超过了增产和降低风险的特征。从观察到的模式可以推断，开发和传播具有更好谷物质量的改良品种，并将目标瞄准品种传播计划中的妇女和边缘化社会群体，可以提高新、改良的种质资源在中央邦的农民采用率和小麦生产力。
