Participatory Plant Breeding: A Pathway to Sustainable and Resilient Agriculture

The world faces increasing concerns over climate change's impact on global food security. Fluctuating climate conditions cause farming uncertainty, leading to food scarcity and higher prices worldwide. New strategies are crucial for enhancing food production and agricultural resilience. Participatory Plant Breeding (PPB) tailors crop varieties to specific ecological contexts, fostering collaboration between breeders, farmers, and stakeholders. It emphasizes participatory varietal selection (PVS) and explores long-term stability and genetic diversity implications. PPB involves the farmers in the selection based on individual and community needs. PPB aims to develop cultivars better adapted to the diverse growing conditions and preferences of smallholder farmers, especially in marginal environments and aims to increase crop production, profitability, and adoption of context-specific varieties, benefiting targeted users and enhancing farmer skills. PPB advances crop genetics by integrating biotechnology, conventional breeding, marker-assisted selection (MAS), and organic farming. Our review article recognizes the need for institutional and policy changes to realize PPB's potential and multidisciplinary activities within PPB drive its potential to revolutionize crop genetics, promote sustainable production, and reduce hunger.