01857naa a2200121 a 450000100080000000500110000800800410001910000210006024500590008126000090014052015050014977300810165416519632004-04-20       1998    bl uuuu     u00u1 u    #d1 aFUKUDA, W. M. G.  aFamer participation in cassava biotechnology research.  c1998  aAbstract: The low impacts created by failure to adopt new cassava technology are one of the difficulties to the development of this crop. Various factors are involved. Among them can be noted the absence of famer participation in the process of identifying priorities and generating technologies and the absence of feedback mechanisms to researchrs about criteria used by farmers to decide whether to adopt or discard a particular technology. In the case of varieties, in spite of the efforts of research in the creation and selection of new clones that are more productive and resistant to diseases and pest, many of the varieties developed have not been adoped. Through active incorporation of famers in the process of selection and samples of improved germplasm of cassava, the principal selection criteria for varieties used by producers in the semiarid areas of Northeast Brazil were identified. This permitted feedback to cassava improvement programs, as the same time that  the method was used as a tool for releasing new clones with a high probability of being adapted. Incoporation of farmers in cassava biotechnology research could be done indirectly, through breeding program in the case of the use of genetic transformation technologies, or directly in the case of virus clean-up, or biocontrol of specific pest and diseases. In addition to farmers, biotechnology should work in an integrated maner with consumers and processors, toward improving quality of products derived from cassava.  tRevista Brasileira de Mandioca, Salvadorgv.17, p.79, nov, 1998. Suplemento.