Assessment of Participatory Varietal Selection of wheat activity Under CRP1.1 Dryland system

Abstract

Assessment of Participatory Varietal Selection of wheat activity Under CRP1.1 Dryland systems. Wheat is the staple crop of Pakistan being consumed and grown all over the Pakistan in all cropping systems. National and international breeding programs are continuously developing the new varieties. There is some success in disseminating modern varieties based on high yield potential through seed companies and extension system with certain level of adoption lag. In the varietal development, seed production and distribution system farmers’ participation is minimal. Farmer participation in breeding programs or varietal selection was negligible in Pakistan. Under, CRP dry land system a demonstration trial at farmer field in order to select the best variety by the farmers was established. The present study is based on Participatory varietal selection carried out at two activity cluster at Chakwal site. Participatory selection process was initiated from the vegetative stage to maturity on field demonstration trials managed by farmers. The social sciences team collected data and documented feedback from the farmer both at initial and maturity stages. At the final stage a Farmer Field Day was arranged for participatory varietal selection (PVS). The purpose of PVS farmer field days was to give awareness to the farmer about the new crop verities and management practices package in addition to evaluate the varieties. Another objective was to involve farmers and ensure their participation from start till the end i.e., harvesting so that the farmer can see, observe and evaluate the varieties. For this purpose a FFD was organized on the same field at vegetative stage and then at maturity stage. Farmers were distributed in groups and then taken to field where crops were shown to them. Farmers evaluated the varieties on the different agronomic parameters that include plant height, disease infestation, no of tillers, stem length, spike length, number of grains, grain size, and expected yield in mounds/acre. Among wheat varieties AAS-2011 was top ranked at resilience cluster as well as at the intensification cluster while Dhurabi was ranked second. Among lentil varieties at resilience locations, Masoor 2002 was ranked first and Markaz 09 second. The consumer preferences by women for wheat flour, preparation of loaves and bread revealed that Dhurabi was the best wheat variety in terms of taste and preferences for preparation of bread.