Participatory breeding to secure income of organic cotton farmers and genetic diversity for
climate change adaptation
Roadmap
Roadmap for the upscaling of the participatory breeding project.
Contact
Dr. Amritbir Riar amritbir.riar@fibl.org Dr. Monika Messmer monika.messmer@fibl.org Dr. Tanay Joshi tanay.joshi@fibl.org www.sgf-cotton.org
www.greencotton.org
About FiBL
Since 1973, the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL has been finding intelligent solutions for regenerative agriculture and sustainable nutrition.
About 280 employees carry out research, advisory services and training at various sites to support organic agriculture.
Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL Ackerstrasse 113, Postfach 219
5070 Frick Switzerland www.fibl.org
Seeding the Green Future
Plant breeding requires a long-term vision and is a continuous race to counteract emerging pests, diseases and challenges of climate change.
We plan to rebuilding the seed sovereignty of organic smallholder cotton farmers to improve their livelihoods.
Supported by
FiBL, 2018
www.fibl.org
‘Seeding the Green Future’ has ambitious goals of scaling its output and impact, given that partners and funding increase Roadmap to scale – the ambitions
1
Success factors to scale:
• Successful fundraising from donors, foundations, industry
• On-boarding critical partners: Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Central Institute for Cotton Research (CICR)
Phase III:
2022-2026
Green Cotton Phase I 2013 – 2016 / 17
Seeding the Green Future Phase II 2018 – 2022
Seeding the Green Future Phase III 2022 – 2026
2017
Objectives of Seeding the Green Future
• Secure seed availability for organic cotton farmers in India.
• Develop a portfolio of new cotton cultivars including traditional Desi cotton with
• improved agronomic performance
• high fiber quality (fiber length of more than 28 mm)
• adaptations for various growing conditions
• high resilience to climate change
• Achieve high adoption rate by farmers and address anticipated changes in cultivation (mechanization)
• Improve integrity of organic cotton by capacity building and close collaboration of actors along the supply chain.
Seeding the Green Future
Project Approach Project Governance,
Activities and Partners
Why Does it Matter?
• 51 % of the global organic cotton is produced in India.
• Less than 2 % of Indian cotton is organic, while genetically modified Bt cotton reached 95 % in less than 10 years.
• Public breeding and seed multiplication were neglected.
• Local non-GM seeds supply were eroded.
• High dependency on a global seed company holding a Bt licence resulting in high seed prices and concentration on high input agriculture (high levels of fertilizer, pesticide and water use).
• Limited interest of commercial seed companies in non-GM cotton due to higher production risks, risk of Bt contamination and low demand.
• Breeder's seed has already been contaminated with Bt, causing contamination throughout the value chain and withdrawal of organic certification.
Gossypium hirsutum Upland cotton
tetraploid Gossypium arboretum
Desi cotton diploid
C1
L1.1 L1.2 L1.3 L1.4
C1
L1.1 L1.2 L1.3
L1.4 C2
L2.1 L2.2 L2.3 L2.4
C3
L3.1 L3.2 L3.3 L3.4
C3
L3.1 L3.2 L3.3
L3.4 C4
L4.1 L4.2 L4.3 L4.4
C1 C3
B1 B
B 3 2
C1 C3
Breeding material Participatory breeding at two cotton growers (C) organisation:
early and advanced generation
On-station & On- farm baby trials of best lines
B1 B
2 B
MLT in different 3
pedoclimatic regions Supply of non-GM cotton seed for all organic farmers A×B
F8
Breeding stages Activities
F7
F6
F5
F4 F3 F3
F2
3
FiBL
Chetna
Organic Cotton
Connect ASA PDKV Akola
Multilocation trials Crosses
Single Plant Selection Early
generations On-station &
On-farm Trials Advanced generations Multilocation
trials multiplicationSeed
Project Coordination
On-farm Trials Advanced generations
RVSKV Gwalior
ICAR OCA
Pratibha Synthex
Advisory Board Mercator
Foundation Switzerland
Crosses
On-station Trials Advanced generations
multiplicationSeed
CSA
