Developing a partcipatory approach to seed production and varietal selection

Summary

The performance of UK winter wheat varieties was tested under organic conditions involving farmer participation. Three breadmaking varieties (Hereward, Solstice and Xi19) and their mixture (1:1:1) were grown at 19 UK farms in 2003/04 and 2004/05. The variability of productivity on organic farms was illustrated with more variation among farm sites than among varieties. Seed health was generally high over all sites. Although the trials were successful, more time was needed at project initiation to improve farmer involvement. Some farmers expected more researcher visits, and were reticent about assessing the trials themselves. In contrast, some participants valued the variety performance data on their farms particularly when related to that of other growers. The balance between the goals of the researchers relative to the farmers needs to be defined at project initiation.