The Environmental and Social Costs of Improvement 374000 accessions of rice in two years, which have been stored in the National Rice
Germplasm Bank pending the development of community seed banks (Salazar,
1992; Siripatra and Lianchamroon, 1992).
Once again, the clear principle is that farmers, given the choice, rarely replace
local varieties entirely with a single MV. They prefer to add a MV to their existing
mix of options. In Indonesia, a local variety called Rojolele was found that com-
pared well with IR64, a recent release from International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI) (Soetomo, 1992). IR64 yields better but, because it needs more water,
weeding and fertilizer, it gives lower returns to farmers. Rojolele is also favoured for
its distinctive taste and fragrance, as well as being fairly resistant to brown plan-
thopper, rats and birds, unlike IR64. Farmers can also produce it locally in com-
munity seed banks, which are growing in popularity in Indonesia, despite them
being contrary to existing government policy that holds that germplasm should be
managed only in official genebanks.
When farmers are given the choice about new varieties, they much prefer to
absorb the new technology into their existing systems. This is quite different to the
way that agricultural modernization has worked so far, with farmers having to
adopt the whole package or nothing at all. Recent participatory research with
women farmers in Andhra Pradesh conducted by International Crops Research
Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) scientists led by Michel Pimbert
has shown how important is the principle of supporting local biodiversity. Women
experimented with new varieties of pigeonpea that were resistant to the pod borer,
Helicoverpa armigera, which can devastate whole crops in bad years (Pimbert,
1991). Although some varieties were rejected because of bitter taste, interest was
generated by the resistance to pod borer. Women farmers, though, said they would
not replace their traditional varieties, but incorporate the new varieties of pigeon-
pea into their current mix of landraces. The new technology, in this case, has been
adapted to suit local farming and livelihood conditions.
Box 1.1 The role of the group ‘Farmer-Scientist Participation for Development’
(MASIPAG), Philippines in the conservation of biodiversity
The MASIPAG programme was established in 1986 to encourage farmers’ participa-
tion in the development of improved varieties which yield well under low-external
input conditions. The programme has:- collected 210 accessions from farmers around the country;
- made cross-combinations to produce 101 selected lines by 1990; of these half
showed good yield potential under low input conditions; - distributed 40,000kg of seed selected from 34 cultivars around the country;
- produced varieties that yield 3.7–5.7t/ha with no applications of fertilizer or
pesticides; this compares with a range for MVs needing external inputs of
3.2–5.2t/ha.
Source: Salazar, 1992