Acceptance and competitiveness of new improved wheat varieties by smallholder farmers

ABSTRACTWe conducted this research because earlier research revealed that Pakistani farmers were growing 8–10-year-old wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties and hence not benefitting from the recent advances in wheat breeding. Participatory varietal selection (PVS) trials were conducted to have farmers validate and include newly released wheat varieties into seed-production stream to speed up replacement of old and obsolete wheat varieties by farmer-preferred new high-yielding varieties. Fourteen new varieties recommended for irrigated and eight for rainfed environments were evaluated in this research involving smallholder farmers in food-deficit districts of Pakistan. Collaborating farmers preferred 10 varieties from the PVS trials, eight of which were germplasm from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) that yielded on average 5–17% more grain than local checks. Local checks used in the PVS trials in Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were old improved varieties. Greater yield advanta...