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Farmers’ genetic perceptions regarding their crop populations: An example with maize in the central valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico

Opiniones genéticas de los granjeros con respecto a sus poblaciones de la cosecha: Un ejemplo con maíz en los valles centrales de Oaxaca, Mexico

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Abstract

Collaborative plant breeding is an approach to crop improvement that includes close attention to specific adaptation and interaction between farmers and formal plant breeders to better meet the needs of those farmers. Collegial interaction capable of making best use of the knowledge and skills of farmers and breeders will depend upon an understanding of those in terms that are relevant to each. To facilitate this interaction with the goal of making farmer selection practices more effective, the work described here sought to improve outside researchers’ understanding of farmers’ fundamental perceptions about their populations, growing environments, and expectations for response to selection. Various methods were used to accomplish this with a small sample of maize farmers in two communities in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico. Farmers’ decisions about maize varietal type repertoires imply assessments based on genetic and environmental variation in the local context. A clear distinction was made between traits of high and low heritability and expected response to selection, however, some traits of interest to farmers such as large seed size may involve considerations other than their potential for expression in the progeny generation.

Resumen

El fitomejoramiento colaborativo es una forma de mejora de las plantas, que presta especial atención, a la adaptatión especifica y la interactión entre agricultores y fitomejoradores para un mejor respuesta a las necesidades de los primeros. Lo que facilita la interaction entre agricultores y fitomejoradores, pretendiendo que la selection de los agricultores sea mas eficiente. El trabajo describe una via para el mejor entendimiento de los investigadores en relation a las percepciones fundamentals de los agricultores respecto a sus poblaciones cultivadas, sus ambientes de cultivo y sus expec-tativas en relation con la respuesta a la selection. Varios metodos fueron aplicados a una pequena muestra de agricultores en dos comunidades en los Valles Centrales de Oaxaca, Mexico, ha decision de los agricultores de escoger sus variedades esta basada en la variatón genetica y ambiental a nivel local. Una clara distinción fue hecha por los agricultores entre los caracteres de alta y baja heredabilidad así como la respuesta a la selection; pero, los resultados sugieren que algunos caracteres de interés para los agricultores como el tamaño del grano son importantes como criterio de selection, aun cuando no lo asocian con un efecto genético.

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  1. Daniela Soleri

    Present address: Center for People, Food and Environment, 340 South Arboleda, 093110, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Arid Lands Resource Sciences Program, University of Arizona, 1955 E 6th St, Tucson, AZ, 85719, USA

    Daniela Soleri

  2. Institute for Social, Behavioral and Economic Research, University of California, 93106, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    Daniela Soleri

  3. Department of Anthropology and Environmental Studies Program, University of California, 93106-3210, Santa Barbara, CA, USA

    David A. Cleveland

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  1. Daniela Soleri
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  2. David A. Cleveland
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Soleri, D., Cleveland, D.A. Farmers’ genetic perceptions regarding their crop populations: An example with maize in the central valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico. Econ Bot 55, 106–128 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02864550

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