Features GENES IN THE FIELD On-Farm Conservation of Crop Diversity PEOPLE, PLANTS, AND PATENTS The Impact of Intellectual Property on Trade, Plant Biodiversity, and Rural Society The Crucible Group SEEDING SOLUTIONS: VOLUME 1 Policy Options for Genetic Resources (People, Plants, and Patents Revisited) The Crucible II Group SEEDING SOLUTIONS: VOLUME 2 Options for National Laws Governing Access To and Control Over Genetic Resources The Crucible II Group

In many parts of North Africa and the Middle East, yields of key crops such as barley are chronically low, and crop failures are common. Conventional breeding programs aimed at improving the crop have had little effect, largely because most farmers refuse to adopt the new varieties. The conventional approach has been a centralized, top-down approach that pays little regard to the actual conditions that farmers face. What if you decentralize the breeding program, involve farmers right from the start, have breeders and farmers work side by side to learn from each other, and pay close attention to what the farmers told you? Revolutionary perhaps, but it's a revolution that has produced positive results.

• Farmer Participation in Barley Breeding
  

• From Formal to Participatory Plant Breeding: Improving Barley Production in the Rainfed Areas of Jordan