b"NEW CROP RESEARCH CONCEPT LEVERAGES FARMERS FOR MASS CROP TRIALINGCITIZEN SCIENCE AND THE POWER OF THREE COMBINE TO INCREASE FOOD SECURITY IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH.BY: KRISTI COX, SEED WORLD CONTRIBUTORC ollaboration between scientists and farmers is always impor- For all these reasons, Jacob van Etten, principal scientist tant in crop variety studies. That partnership is getting aand director of digital inclusion at the Alliance of Bioversity boost thanks to a new kind of citizen science. Called theInternational and CIAT, realised citizen scienceand specifically, Triadic Comparison of Technology Options (tricot) approach, thisthe tricot approachjust might be the answer. simple but extremely practical and impressively effective strategy involves researchers providing seeds to a large number of farmers,LEVERAGING FARMERS SKILLwho then plant the seeds, collect the production data, and reportCitizen science is a method of using members of the general public their observations back to the scientists. Initially developed with an(in this case, farmers) to collect or analyze data, usually in collab-eye on the global south, this approach enables thousands of farmersoration with professional scientists. This allows for high numbers to participate in providing data inand gain from the results ofof trials across a wide range of locations. Personal connection to inclusive, practical, very large-scale, real-world trials.the subject of the study is a strong motivator for people to actively While conventional trial data, generally conducted by scientistsparticipate. Van Etten realized farmers interest in access to newer, themselves in a limited number of locations and a relatively low totalbetter crop varieties could be leveraged to enhance crop trialling in number of plots, can be the most scientifically rigorous, the result- multiple parts of South America, Africa and Asia. ing data is very specific to each trials growing area and the uniqueIn standard field trials, scientists may have a lot of control, but growing conditions of the study year(s). Geography, microclimates,there is low motivation for the farmers to do their part in maintain-weather events, regional or individual agronomy preferences, evening the test plots. Scientists need to be on location to observe results, taste preferences can mean what works in one location might notwhich becomes expensive. In addition to (and in part because of) meet the needs of a farmer 100km away, or even just down the road.better ongoing maintenance, Van Etten says that citizen science Local, practical, efficient trials are more important than ever, givendata is about half the cost of a data point from a normal trial. quickly changing climatic conditions.You don't need to be there, van Etten says. You can call the A female farmer from Santa Cecilia, Costa Rica.She planted the Tricot plots. Photo: Sergio Puerto32ISEED WORLD EUROPEISEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPE"