Adaptability analysis in a participatory variety trial of organic vegetable crops

Abstract

Successful organic farming requires crop varieties that are resilient to environmental variability. Assessing variety performance across the range of conditions represented on working farms is vital to developing such varieties; however, data collected from on-farm, participatory trials can be difficult to both collect and interpret. To assess the utility of data arising from participatory trialing efforts, we examined the performance of butternut squash (Cucurbita moschata L.), broccoli (Brassica oleracea L.) and carrot (Daucus carota L.) varieties grown in diverse organic production environments in participatory trials in Oregon, Washington, Wisconsin and New York using adaptability analysis (regression of variety means on environmental index). Patterns of adaptation varied across varieties, with some demonstrating broad adaptation and others showing specific adaptation to low- or high-yielding environments. Selection of varieties with broad vs specific adaptation should be guided by farmers’ risk tolerance and on-farm environmental variation. Adaptability analysis was appropriate for continuous variables (e.g., yield traits), but less so for ordinal variables and quality traits such as flavor and appearance, which can be vitally important in organic vegetable crop variety selection. The relative advantages of adaptability analysis and additive main effects and multiplicative interactions are also discussed in relation to on-farm trial networks. This work demonstrated the unique challenges presented by extensive participatory vegetable trialing efforts, which, as compared to grain crops, require novel approaches to facilitating farmer participation as well as data collection and analysis. Efficient, precise and reliable methods for evaluating quality related traits in these crops would allow researchers to assess stability and adaptation across a wider range of traits, providing advantages for effective plant breeding and trialing activities within the organic sector.

Farmer Participatory Research Advances Sustainable Agriculture: Lessons from Michigan and Malawi

“…Visualization tools such as radar charts, structural equation modeling, and adaptability analysis have been key to interpreting complex findings in MBT approaches conducted in Southern Africa, as well as the United States (Chimonyo et al, 2019; Smith et al, 2014). This is in concurrence with a recent report on MBT variety selection with vegetable growers in the United States (Lyon et al, 2019).…”

“…At the same time, farmer–researcher partnerships clearly exist in North America and Europe with successful outcomes in terms of expanding the role and effectiveness of farmers’ own experimentation (Delate et al, 2017; Wortmann et al, 2005). There are a growing number of examples in the literature on intensified agriculture representing the continuum of FPR approaches (Lyon et al, 2019; Vogl et al, 2015).…”

“…According to Small and Raizada (2017), the MBT approach has been “widely adopted in the field of participatory agronomy and plant breeding research with farmers around the world”. The MBT approach is a systematic design that samples variation across space and time by promoting the involvement of large numbers of farmers through baby trials (single replicates of subsets of technologies chosen by farmers) systematically linked to mother trials, where all technologies are evaluated in a replicated manner within‐site (Isaacs et al, 2016; Lyon et al, 2019; Snapp, 2002). This has been used in many cases for participatory variety selection but also lends itself to documentation of slow processes that are often key to sustainable production, such as soil organic C accrual; this can be evaluated in mother trials established in controlled environments over the long term while the network of baby trials supports joint learning among farmers, extension staff, and researchers.…”

Participatory plant breeding reveals that geosmin concentration is not the central determinant of hedonic liking in table beet

“…Despite the farmer-engaged nature of this project, each cultivar was selected on only one farm. In some cases, selection in organic growing conditions has yielded cultivars that show increased performance on organic farms, but in other cases, selection on a single organic farm has resulted in cultivars with limited adaptation (Lyon et al 2018). In addition, correlation between variety performance on individual farms and that on research stations was lower in organic than conventional conditions (Singh et al 2011).…”

Citizen Science in North American Agri-Food Systems: Lessons Learned

“…Most projects led to scientific discoveries and innovations. CS projects resulted in new plant varieties for organic farming (Lyon et al 2018); greater understanding of pollinator health (Bloom and Crowder 2020); evidence of linkage between antibiotic-resistant bacteria and livestock worker health (Guidry et al 2018;Hatcher et al 2017aHatcher et al , 2017bNadimpalli et al 2015Nadimpalli et al , 2016Rhodes et al 2020;Rinsky et al 2013); and documentation of pesticide drift into homes and schools (Harrison 2011(Harrison , 2017Marquez and Schafer 2017). Some projects directly helped community members to document contamination from oil sands development (Baker 2016;Baker and Fort Mackay Berry Group 2019) and from an oil spill (Simon-Friedt et al 2016;Wickliffe et al 2018;Wilson et al 2015).…”