| Expert Name | Prof. John Witcombe |
| Title | Manager |
| Division | DFID Plant Sciences Research Programme, Centre for Arid Zone Studies |
| Institution | |
| City | Bangor, Gwynedd |
| Country | British |
| Telephone | 44 1248 382346 |
| Email | cazs(at)bangor.ac.uk |
| Work Experience | John Witcombe is a Professor in CAZS, University of Wales, Bangor, where he is Deputy Director of Research and the Manager of the DFID Plant Sciences Research Programme. This programme funds research in Africa and Asia targeted at improving the livelihoods of poor people in developing countries. At CAZS his current research interests are: farmer participation in plant breeding (principally in India, Nepal and Pakistan) on a range of crops including rice, maize and wheat; the study of seed supply systems and regulatory frameworks for varietal release; the use of molecular marker to support breeding in upland rice and pearl millet; and the deployment of on-farm varietal diversity. For the past 15 years he has been a consultant on improving livelihoods through productivity increases in rainfed crops to DFID rural development projects in western and eastern India and in Pakistan. These development projects are gender sensitive, poverty focused and participatory. |
| Qualifications | 1971 Ph.D. Plant Genetics (Nottingham)
1966 B.Sc. Agricultural Botany (Wales) |
| Number of Publications | 100 |
| Awards | 1. Chair, Program Committee of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre (CIMMYT), 1999-2005.
2. Honorary Membership, Local Initiatives for Biodiversity, Research and Development, Nepal, 1998 – present. |
| Other Activities | 1. Fellow of the Institute of Biology
2. Tropical Agriculture Association |
| Publications | 1. Witcombe, J.R., Gyawali, S., Sunwar, S., Sthapit, B.R. & Joshi. (2005) Participatory plant breeding is better described as highly client-oriented plant breeding. I. Four indicators of client-orientation in plant breeding. Experimental Agriculture (in press).
2. Witcombe, J.R., Joshi, A. & Goyal, S.N. (2003). Participatory plant breeding in maize: A case study from Gujarat, India. Euphytic 130: 413-422.
3. Joshi, K.D. & Witcombe, J.R. (2003). The impact of participatory plant breeding (PPB) on landrace diversity: a case study for high-altitude rice in Nepal. Euphytica 134: 117-125.
4. Witcombe, J.R., Joshi, K.D., Rana, R.B. & Virk, D.S. (2001). Increasing genetic diversity by participatory varietal selection in high potential production systems in Nepal and India. Euphytica 122: 575-588.
5. Witcombe, J.R., Petre, R., Jones, S. & Joshi. A.(1999). Farmer participatory crop improvement. IV. The spread and impact of a rice variety identified by participatory varietal selection. Experimental Agriculture 35: 471-487. |
| Discipline | Natural Resource Management |
| Last updated | 15/01/2007 16:43:00 |
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