2017/01/01 by Frédéric Rey, Rey, Frédéric, Laurent Hazard +1
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Social Sciences · #0 #Agriculture and Rural Development Research #Agriculture, Land Use, Rural Development #Agrobiodiversity #Agrobiodiversité #Community management #French Urban and Social Studies #Gestion collective #Maison de la semence #Participatory plant breeding #Seed house #Seeds #Semences #Sélection participative
paper · pdf · doi:10.15454/1.5137784730122622e12
openalex publication_date 2017/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
Seed control is a food sovereignty issue. After their management has been largely delegated to the private sector in France, farmers’ communities have developed new agrobiodiversity management methods over the last fifteen years. ProABiodiv project (2012-2015) focused on these new management methods by taking the example of four farmers groups involved in participatory plant breeding of maize and forage crops. The objective was to understand functions and functioning of these groups and their methods of seed management. Their technical and organizational practices depend on the local context although experiences from other groups and researchers working with them are used. There is therefore not a single model for collective management of agrobiodiversity to be promoted in every conditions. On the other hand, all actors of these groups develop a form of collective intelligence which, together with the genetic diversity of the populations they manage, ensures a great adaptation capacity to the global changes underway. These are valuable initiatives to support an agro-ecological transition of agriculture, providing plants adapted to multiple contexts and growing conditions.