socioeconomic obstacles to establishing a participatory plant breeding program for organic growers in the united states社会经济障碍建立参与式植物育种计划有机种植者在美国.pdf

Sustainability 2010, 2, 73-91; doi:10.3390/su2010073 OPEN ACCESS sustainability ISSN 2071-1050 /journal/sustainability Article Socioeconomic Obstacles to Establishing a Participatory Plant Breeding Program for Organic Growers in the United States Ruth Mendum and Leland L. Glenna * Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology, Penn State University, University Park, PA 16802, USA; E-Mail: rmm22@ * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: llg 13@; Tel.: +1-814-863-8636; Fax: +1-814-865-3746. Received: 3 November 2009 / Accepted: 24 December 2009 / Published: 29 December 2009 Abstract: Proponents of participatory plant breeding (PPB) contend that it is more conducive to promoting agricultural biodiversity than conventional plant breeding. The argument is that conventional plant breeding tends to produce crops for homogenous environments, while PPB tends to be directed at meeting the diverse environmental conditions of the farmers participating in a breeding program. Social scientific research is needed to highlight the complex socioeconomic factors that inhibit efforts to initiate PPB programs. To contribute, we offer a case study of a participatory organic seed production project that involved a university breeding program, commercial organic seed dealers, and organic farmers in the Northeastern United States. We demonstrate that, although PPB may indeed promote agricultural biodiversity, several socioeconomic ob