Have you ever heard about seedless watermelon? Purple long bean? Or upland rice? Those are the product of the plant breeding technique to fulfil the needs of the world's food demand. However, in this essay I want to put on a spotlight on one critical case which I thought has become one of the big topics in a future plant breeding program. Plant breeding is one of the
important parts of agriculture, it works to preserve the genetic richness and create a new desired variety of plants to overcome the changes in climate, technology or even particular request. In traditional farming practice, it is obvious that the involvement of the family farmer in every decision such as plant's type or desired traits will ultimately create new favorable plants through the natural selection that unconsciously occurred along the way.
This family farmer which consists of man and woman emerge in a two different perception that can impact crop production. I consider this event as a blind spot for the breeding sector since it has not been thoroughly studied. Hilten (2017) in her article
about "Plant Breeding for Gender Equality" stated that the selection activities in farming based on gender perception can impact the crop yield. This study aimed to empower a woman in Syria. Apparently, most practical activities involve men who manage the whole farming process. But, this is such a different
culture in Syria, where women and men have different perspectives and characteristics
when it comes to the plant they cultivate. Women's are more likely to select and grow crops with elastic dough to ease them for making bread, while men tend to
select crops with strength and height to ease them in harvesting mechanization.
I don't realize how important this
matter was until I read some articles and found that it also became a major factor in the rural
community. An instance from cashew farmers in East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia.
After interviewing some farmers there, I could tell that gender' roles does really matter on how the land has been managed and the sustainability of their post-harvest activities. Women have to do multi jobs among taking care of their family and working, so they expect to have a sturdier quality of cashew kernels to ease them in a flavoring and packaging process, and sweeter fruit taste so they can create a different product. On the opposite, men tend to focus on how to reach a high amount of production measured by weight, they put great endeavour of on-farm quality which is good, but often lack observation of post-harvest management.
The farmer counsellor and business consultants can take a place here, to identify the local problem and suggesting the most proper variety or giving the knowledge to cultivate their preferred plant from the previous generation which can give a benefit to the farmers. It can involve some stakeholders such as seed companies to offer the most suitable cultivars while benefited from new genotypes for germplasm collection, or for some young-emerging start-up to create a local market system to introduce the farmer's product. Moreover, planting different crops or ornamental plants can be a resource to balancing the needs of each farmer since they know what kind of work they are capable to do and planning for the best result. Both are collab while both having fun on their own purpose.
In the end, considering gender as an important aspect in plant breeding will not only helps the breeder to find a new variety with wide-scale desirable traits but also finding a new insight on the underutilized plant which is useful but mostly forgotten like Butterfly pea flower, Morel berry, etc.
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