This document summarizes the story of participatory plant breeding and evolutionary plant breeding in Iran. It discusses how farmers in Iran are bringing biodiversity back to their fields by working with researchers to breed better crop varieties adapted to climate change. The process began with meetings between farmers and researchers to understand farmer needs and concerns regarding seeds and sovereignty. Farmers then evaluated 70 varieties of wheat and barley in their own fields, selecting the most resilient and adapted varieties. This participatory plant breeding approach is now being discussed more widely in universities and has led to the first PPB thesis being defended in Iran.

1. The Story of Participatory Plant
Breeding and Evolutionary Plant
Breeding in Iran with the approach
of Participatory agricultural research
Farmers in Iran
are bringing
biodiversity back
to their fields and
helping
researchers to
breed better
varieties in
relation with
climate change
and adaptation to www.cenesta.org

2. It all started with meetings with farmers to
know their needs and concerns regarding
SEEDS SOVEREIGNTY

3. Farmers discussed and listed the characteristics
they should select for in barley

4. This resulted in breeders at ICARDA and DARI
providing 70 different lines of wheat and barley
to be cultivated in farmers' fields according to
their own methods

5. The different lines were noticeably very
diverse

6. The extremely harsh winter of 2011/2012
brings into focus the need for having locally
adapted varieties and bringing back diversity
to the fields

7. The following spring a drought means that in
this field which borders the desert, only the most
resilient and adapted varieties will survive

8. Farmers gave scores to the best
lines of wheat and barley

9. Based on their scores and performance
data from the field, they selected the
lines they wanted to keep

10. A researcher, a farmer and a
facilitator examine and discuss
data from the field

11. All this talk of biodiversity brings the
older farmers to ask: where have our
landraces gone ?

12. The discussion on the need to
revive landraces is continued with
a breeder for the National Gene
Bank

13. Some Iranian farmers have the
opportunity to see landraces from Iran
being multiplied at ICARDA's research
station

14. They join other farmers to exchange
experiences about PPB and the
importance of reviving landraces at the
Farmers' Conference at ICARDA

15. An old farmer shows a landrace which
he has not seen in 40 years in a field
where landraces from gene banks are
being re-introduced into farmers’ fields
- and their breeding programs

16. Photographs by an Iranian farmer
to show that agricultural
biodiversity brings bounty and
peace....

17. ...and monocultures bring hunger.

18. Farmers’ sketch of his PPB field,
including 70 lines of barley, a mix of 10
lines of barley and an evolutionary
population of 1600 F2s

19. PPB is starting to be discussed in
universities: here at a seminar of the
Iranian Association of Agroecology at
Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran

20. The first thesis on PPB is
successfully defended at
Kermanshah University

21. Giving a lecture on PPB to the
Agricultural Extension
Department of Razi University

22. 200 participants attend the “First
National Workshop on
Participatory Plant Breeding of
Cereal Crops”

23. Breeders engaged in lively
discussions in the working
group on research

24. A training seminar is organised
to build capacity in the
Agricultural Organisation of
Kermanshah

25. Farmers present their evaluation of the
strengths and weaknesses of the PPB
project to a group of farmers and
Ministry staff

26. Discussions on seed laws underline the
importance of farmers’ rights to
participate in research and law and
policy-making

27. Seed laws were discussed in a special
working group at the national PPB
workshop; the focus was on variety
release procedures and legal issues
related to intellectual property rights

28. Attending the meeting “Let’s Liberate
Diversity” in Ascoli, Italy to learn about
the impact European seed legislation is
having on farmer seed systems

29. Discussing seed laws in a
mosque in Garmsar, March
2011

30. Second conference of the
Farmers’ House of Garmsar,
March 2012

31. Iranian farmer measuring wheat in
a field of landraces from
throughout the world in southern
France

32. Making bread with peasant-
bakers from throughout the
world

33. Taller varieties
block out the
shorter ones in a
field of
“evolutionary
barley” where
1600 F2s are
cultivated over a
long period of
time to allow
nature to play a
role in selection

34. Comparing root growth
between several of the 1600
F2s planted as a mixture in a
field of evolutionary barley

35. And this is just
the

36. www.cenesta.org
khadija@cenesta.org
Khadija.razavi@gmail.co