Soleri, D., D.A. Cleveland, S.E. Smith, S. Ceccarelli, S. Grando, R.B. Rana, D. Rijal, and H. Rios L. (2002) Understanding Farmers' Knowledge as the Basis for Collaboration with Plant Breeders: Methodological Development and Examples from Ongoing Research in Mexico, Syria, Cuba, and Nepal. In Farmers, Scientists and Plant Breeding: Integrating Knowledge and Practice, D.A. Cleveland and D. Soleri, eds. Pp. 19-60. Oxon, UK: CAB International.

ABSTRACT
There has been very little comparative research on farmers' and scientists' theoretical or conceptual knowledge, sometimes leading to reliance on untested assumptions in plant breeding projects that attempt to work with farmers. We propose an alternative approach that is inductive, based on a very basic biological model of plant-environment relationships, and on a holistic model of knowledge. The method we use was developed in Oaxaca, Mexico, and is based on scenarios involving genotype-by-environment interactions, heritability, and genetic response to selection. It is being modified and applied in a research project with collaborating scientists and farmers in Syria (barley), Cuba (maize) and Nepal (rice). We are testing the ideas that 1) farmers' knowledge is complex, and includes conceptual knowledge of genotypes and environments, 2) farmers' knowledge is both similar to and different than scientists' knowledge, and 3) a generalizable methodological approach permitting inclusion of farmers' conceptual knowledge in research design and execution can form the basis for enhanced farmer-scientist collaboration for crop conservation and improvement. Results to date suggest farmers have conceptual knowledge of their genotypes and environments that is congruent with the basic biological model also used by scientists, but that their knowledge is also influenced by the specific, local characteristics of their genotypes and environments, and by their social contexts. Some examples of the practical utility of these research results are given.