Universal Journal of Agricultural Research Vol. 4(1), pp. 5 - 14
DOI: 10.13189/ujar.2016.040102
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Empirical Knowledge in Participatory Research: Integration of the Sensory Quality of Bread in the Plant Breeding Process of Wheat in France

Camille Vindras-Fouillet ^1,*, Vincent Rouellat ¹, Alexandre Hyacinthe ², Véronique Chable ^3
1 French Research Institute of Organic Farming, France
² ARDEAR Rhone-Alpes, France
³ INRA Sciences for Action and Development, France

ABSTRACT

Managing complexity within agro ecological systems requires new research organization, such as action or participatory researches. The integration of empirical knowledge remains a challenge for such approaches and should ease the understanding of complex issues and the formulation of new hypothesis. The case study of the quality management of hand-made breads in the farmer-baker sector offers relevant conditions for methodological studies, since empirical knowledge has developed through individual experiments. In this paper, empirical knowledge was gathered from 11 grain farmers (farmer-bakers) via semi-structured interviews aiming at identifying breeding strategies linked to end-use quality. In parallel, morphological and sensory characterization of some farmers' wheat was then used to validate the patterns identified in the interviews. The interviews identified three breeding strategies related to end-use quality: the genetic diversity to stabilize performance, the typicality strategy to differentiate bread and the genetic adaptation by growing landraces. To help breeding, quality markers as dark kernel color or awns presence should be relevant. Those phenotypes show specific aromas, such as the roasted flavor, during sensory property evaluations. Our approach connected objective data with qualitative data from interviews related to practices and cultural values. This last point is of importance as non-measurable variables such as human values should impact significantly farmers' strategies. These results will help to better connect both forms of knowledge required for participatory approaches by integrating empirical and scientific knowledge so as to implement experiments and to analyze complex issues.

KEYWORDS
Empirical Knowledge, Participatory Research, End-use Quality, Breeding Strategy, Knowledge Validation, Hand-made Breads

Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Camille Vindras-Fouillet , Vincent Rouellat , Alexandre Hyacinthe , Véronique Chable , "Empirical Knowledge in Participatory Research: Integration of the Sensory Quality of Bread in the Plant Breeding Process of Wheat in France," Universal Journal of Agricultural Research, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 5 - 14, 2016. DOI: 10.13189/ujar.2016.040102.

(b). APA Format:
Camille Vindras-Fouillet , Vincent Rouellat , Alexandre Hyacinthe , Véronique Chable (2016). Empirical Knowledge in Participatory Research: Integration of the Sensory Quality of Bread in the Plant Breeding Process of Wheat in France. Universal Journal of Agricultural Research, 4(1), 5 - 14. DOI: 10.13189/ujar.2016.040102.