Conferences
On-farm plant breeding education as tool for risk management
Ana Galvis
Summary
Thank you to the generous support of WERME, and with the support of expert breeders and organic seed farmers from 9 states of the WERME region, the Organic Seed Alliance (OSA) co-designed, implemented and plans to deliver a course in on-farm plant breeding tailored for the needs of organic seed farmers.
During the co-design stage of the course the farmers identified introduction of new pests, unexpected/extreme climatic variability, and catastrophic events such as wildfires, flooding and droughts as some of the main production challenges. The farmers identified infrastructure, diversification of markets and crops, and agronomic adaptations, such as variety selection and adaptation of local seed, as top priority aspects for their resilience.
With this in mind, and with more than 20 years in participatory plant breeding, OSA developed a curriculum that offers information on the fundamental concepts of genetics, statistics, and on-farm plant breeding planning, implementation and evaluation for seed farmers. The course will be delivered in a hybrid format including online and on farm activities and students will have support of experienced organic farmers with extensive experience in breeding and local adaptation of seed. All the material will be taught combining the knowledge and perspective of expert academic breeders and experienced organic seed farmers.
Through this poster we plan to share our experiences and results in the co-creation of this course with the ERME community.
Presentation Materials
Details
| Conference | 2026 Extension Risk Management Education National Conference |
| Presentation Type | Poster |