Examining divergent strategies in farming systems research

Abstract

The experience of a small interdisciplinary farming systems research team is used to examine farming systems research approaches and evaluate location-specific work for regional development. The various baseline surveys completed by the team are described and assessed. Attention is drawn to the value of focused surveys whose results can be quickly incorporated into research programs. The team's gradual integration of village and experiment station work is documented in detail and used to emphasize the advantage of early involvement of farmers in the development of an experimental model. The development path of a particular model is followed to demonstrate that direct farmer involvement encourages flexible views of technology on the part of researchers; this flexibility is essential if technology is to be developed for wider geographical areas. The paper concludes by emphasizing research problems following the inclusion of alternative development approaches in a single research agenda for small teams, and argues that location-specific work has a legitimate role to play in research for regional development.