Benefit-cost analysis of a participatory breeding program in Syria

1. Benefit-cost analysis of a participatory breeding program in Syria Yasmin Mustafa, Stefania Grando and Salvatore Ceccarelli ICARDA Impact Assessment Workshop October 19-21, 2005 CIMMYT

2. Benefit-Cost Analysis of a Participatory breeding in Syria • Introduction • Participatory plant breeding (PPB) • Methodology • Benefits on program level & on farm level • Costs on program level & on farm level • Results & conclusions

3. Introduction • Barley is the second most important crop in Syria.It is grown as a feed crop in rainfed area, 200-350mm of rainfall • Most barley is grown in marginal environment where no other crop can be grown. • PPB started at 1996 on 7 villages in Syria, and expand to 25 villages in 7 provinces that cover 90% of barley growing area. • The sample included 69 farmers who are participating in the PPB program, 69 farmers participated in variety selection, and 69 non participant farmers.

4. Advantages of PPB • Offering farmers the possibility to decide which varieties: • suit better their needs and conditions • without posing risks to livelihoods. • Increasing the probability and speed of adoption • Increasing efficiency and effectiveness of the breeding program • Increasing feed backs from farmers to researchers • Enhance the human capital of farming communities • Contribute to yield stability by providing more adaptable varieties

5. Features of PPB in Syria • Based on the following two principles: 1. The trials are grown in farmers’ fields using farmer’s agronomic practices. 2. Selection is conducted by farmers in farmers’ fields, so that farmers are the key decision makers. • Farmers participate in initial, advanced, and elite trials. • PPB is implemented in 25 communities in 7 provinces. • Current program was started in 2000. • 11 varieties have been already released in three communities.

6. Percentage of barley area and barley farmers under improved varieties. • %F, is percentage of farmers grow new varieties. • %A, is percentage of area in new varieties.

7. A conventional and a participatory plant breeding programs as they are implemented in Syria. Conventional Plant Breeding Participatory Plant Breeding Year 1 Crosses Crosses On-Station F1 F1 Year 2 F2 Bulks Year 3 F2 Bulks On-Station Barley Initial Trial (BIT) Farmer Initial Trials (FIT) Year 4 Barley Preliminary Trials (BPT) Farmer Advanced Trials (FAT) Year 5 On Farm Barley Advanced Trials (BAT) Farmer Elite Trials (FET) Year 6 Adoption Release On-Farm Trials (OFT) Year 7 On Farm On-Farm Trials (OFT) Year 8 Year 9 On-Farm Trials (OFT)

8. A Representative Module of Farmer’s Participation in PPB • The following module is taken from Suran community in Hama Province:

9. Adoption in PPB and CPB Rate of adoption Ceiling of adoption PPB Research Costs Research benefits Start of Diffusion Time 0 Dissemination costs 6 9 CPB Research Costs

10. Gross Economic Benefit Model m n GEB =  Aj * Iij * Yij * Pij  j=1 I=1 Where Pij = pij / E Yij = yij - Lij

11. Amount of available seeds, seed rates, planted area, average yield, gain in yield and barley production and gross economic benefits for PPB.

12. Benefit and cost on farm level • Benefit = A * Y * P • Cost: there is no difference between costs of the two programs, because farmers use the same agricultural practices in the two programs. • The only difference is the opportunity cost of farmers participation (5 working days on average)

13. Intellectual Benefits to Farmers • The knowledge that farmers get through their participation in the program improves their ability to make decisions regarding the variety testing and selection. • About 31% of the interviewed farmers stated that, PPB enhanced their experience in barley production, as well as in agricultural in general. • Nearly 44% of them said that they gained new knowledge in variety selection through their participation in the evaluation and selection process. • 21% stated that their knowledge increased as a result of their interaction with other farmers, and 27% that their knowledge increased as a result of their interaction with breeders. • The PPB program has a positive impact on the economic status and the livelihood of 65% of participant farmers. • About 31% of the interviewed farmers stated that, even if the PPB research will end, they would keep practicing what they have learned about plant breeding and selection. They also assured that they would protect the seed of the new variety, and would keep looking for good varieties with other farmers, and plant them. • only 7% of the interviewed farmers believed that farmers who got the selected varieties should keep the benefits for themselves, while 93% believed that benefit should be distributed at community level.

14. Costs of Conventional and Participatory Plant Breeding Program at ICARDA (US $)

15. Time Allocation for PPB and CPB (%) • Most of research time is allocated to CPB • PPB is time-saving strategy due to wide farmers’ participation • RA’s allocate more time than others in PPB

16. CPB program Present value of cost (2000-04) is 357,390 US$ Present value of benefits (2000-04) is 31million US$. Benefit-cost ratio is 68 PPB program Present value of cost (2000-04) is 363,902 US$ Present value of benefits for the first season for two location only is 1.85 million US$. Benefit-cost ratio is 5.1 Benefit-cost analysis

17. ICARDA human and financial investment in barley breeding programs

18. Cumulative Area in Improved Varieties