Small farmers' methods and criteria in choosing crop varieties and
ensuring seed supply need to be studied so that breeders can support
these efforts and produce appropriate new varieties. Anita Linnemann and
Jan Siemonsma describe how this is being done in East Java.
Anita R. Linnemann and Jan S. Siemonsma
Ever since new varieties of food crops have been introduced in developing
countries, at least some farmers have started to use them. However,
smallholders who choose to use these new genetic materials generally do
not replace them after a few years when they have lost their varietal
purity. Instead, the farmers select and save seed from their own fields
and exchange seeds locally. It has been estimated that at least 80% of
the planted seed of the main food crops grown in developing counties is
produced by the farmers themselves (Delouche, 1982).
Differing criteria
Plant breeders develop varieties according to a number of criteria,
primarily yield potential but also response to fertiliser, resistance to pests
and diseases, length of growth cycle, dietary value of the product etc.
These varieties are generally appreciated by market-oriented, larger-scale
farmers growing the crop in a pure stand and under relatively good
growing conditions. Subsistence-oriented farmers require varieties with a
good yield which is reliable and stable, also during bad years. For this
purpose, they commonly use a mixture of varieties. They choose varieties
adapted to specific characteristics of their farming system, such as
intercropping, staggered harvesting, seasonal availability of labour. They
also attach importance to taste and cooking qualities and to by-products
that can be used, e.g., as forage or building materials.
Producing and selecting seed
Different farmers produce and select their seed in different ways. Most
farmers select seed after harvest. Others make their choice before
harvest, walking through the fields and marking the plants they will use
for next year's crop. Some farmers grow seed plants for the next season
in a separate plot at some distance from the main crop. They may give extra attention to this plot, for example, by applying manure, discarding
off-types and keeping the plot free of weeds and pests. The farmers do
not necessarily select for a uniform type of seed. They may choose seed
so as to maintain a certain variation in earliness, shape, colour and taste
of product.
Need for seed purchases
In general, farmers save enough seed to resow at least twice. However,
in drought-prone areas, they often run out of seed and have to depend on
seed from other sources. They also have to buy those seeds which they
cannot store adequately, e.g., groundnut and soybean which soon
deteriorate and lose their germinative power when stored at ambient
temperatures in monsoon climates. Some crops, particularly among the
vegetables, do not produce seed in certain environments. Farmers who
want to grow these crops have to buy seed produced in favourable
regions. Farmers may also buy seed if they are convinced that the new
genetic material meets their needs better than the seed they produce
themselves. However, most farmers prefer their own varieties because
these are adapted to their farming system.
Farmer-based seed supply
In view of the diversity in the wishes and requirements of small-scale
farmers with regard to crop characteristics, there is a need to strengthen
farmer-based seed supply at the community level. First of all, researchers
must acquire a thorough knowledge of the existing varieties and the
existing techniques of seed production, selection and storage. Then, by
conducting on-station trials as well as on-farm trials in close collaboration
with the farmers, improvements could be tried out such as in seed
selection in the field and in the treatment and storage of seed, and
appropriate new genetic material could be incorporated into the farming
system.
Case study: soybean seed supply
Since Indonesia has achieved self-sufficiency in rice, the Government has
started to promote the growing of other food crops, particularly soybean.
The main soybean-growing province is East Java, where 37% of the
national crop is grown. The extension service recommends the use of a new soybean variety with a 100-seed weight of 10 g. However, most
farmers in East Java still use local soybean varieties, which they generally
call "local 29". This refers to the variety No.29 with small, green-yellow
seeds (100-seed weight 5-8 g) which was introduced from Taiwan to
Indonesia in 1924. Variety No.29 was maintained at Indonesian research
institutes but was not multiplied and distributed by Government services
after its initial introduction at the farm level. Sixty years of intensive
cultivation and selection by Indonesian farmers have led to the
development of a large number of local varieties which differ in terms of
time to reach maturity and yield levels.
Maintaining seed supply
About 70% of the soybean production in East Java comes from dryseason cropping on wetland: one crop from April to June following a rice
crop, and another from July to October, following either soybean or rice.
The other 30% of soybean production comes from wet-season cropping
on dryland between December and February (Soegito and Siemonsma,
1985). The farmers have difficulties in storing soybean seed so as to
maintain its viability for more than about six weeks. To obtain good
germination and establishment of soybean after a rice crop, they need
access to fresh seed. To achieve this they developed a system called
JABAL "Jalinan Arus Benih Antar Lapang", which literally means "seed
flow between fields". Certain villages have specialised in soybean growing
on dryland during the wet season. Yields are lower than those of dryseason soybean, but farmers can get a 50% higher price for their wetseason crop, for it provides the seed for the main soybean crops in the
dry season.
Local varieties compare well
Trials at MARIF (Malang Research Institute for Food Crops) revealed that
some farmers' varieties of soybean compare well with those
recommended by international institutes and the Indonesian Government
(Siemonsma and Soegito, 1985). In on-farm trials the most promising
farmers' selections were then compared with varieties developed by Asian
research institutes as well as with the stock of the original variety No.29
maintained by Indonesian research institutes. The selected local varieties
performed as well as the new varieties during the main cropping season
(the dry season) and generally outyielded them during the wet season. As the seed flow from dryland to wetland and back again is indispensable for
sustaining soybean cultivation in East Java, varieties must yield well in
both seasons. It was noteworthy that the selected local varieties also
outyielded the original variety No.29 from which the farmers had derived
them. The results of the on-farm yield trials demonstrated that many
locally developed varieties are well adapted to the local environmental
conditions and farming systems. Large-scale introduction of a few
varieties could cause the rapid loss of a valuable source of genetic
diversity, especially since soybean seed soon loses its viability when
stored under farmers' conditions.
What does this mean for research?
Soybean improvement programmes should start with testing local
planting materials. It is not sufficient to compare introduced varieties with
just one or two local controls, as this does not do justice to the diversity
found in farmers' varieties. Instead, researchers should use fresh, healthy
planting materials carefully chosen to reflect local diversity and potential,
and should evaluate these materials according to the farmers' selection
criteria. Progress may be slower than relying on easily available seed
from international institutes but will be more secure in the long term.
Anita R. Linnemann and Jan S. Siemonsma
Department of Tropical Crop Science
Wageningen Agricultural University
6700 AH Wageningen
The Netherlands