Agricultural Administration最新文献

In order to understand the ‘state of the art’ concerning the management of agricultural research projects in India, a study was undertaken involving the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Institutes and Agricultural Universities. This is the first of two papers and it discusses various aspects of the planning of agricultural research projects in the country. Problems of farmers and field observations served as sources of ideas for research projects only in one third of the cases. Compatibility with an Institute's goals and resources availability were the major criteria considered for proposing research projects. Project leaders in consultation with project members formulated their research projects within six months. The majority of the projects were discussed, evaluated and approved by scientific bodies like the Staff Research Council (SRC) or the Project Advisory Committee (PAC). Only a smaller proportion of the project proposals were rejected because of lack of personnel and facilities, and poorly prepared project proposals. In a considerable number of cases research methodologies were modified after approval for want of funds, men and materials, and due to the discovery of new methods. Apart from lack of resources in terms of men and materials, human problems such as a poor relationship with superiors also played a significant role in the premature termination of research projects. In a number of cases, no deadlines were set for the completion of research projects, and inter-disciplinary co-operation was lacking.

From 1977 to 1980, the International Potato Center (CIP), in collaboration with Peru's Ministry of Agriculture and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), conducted a series of farm-level surveys and experiments in the Mantaro Valley of Highland Peru. The lessons of the Mantaro Valley Project can be summarized in 12 points:

• 1.

  1. Ecological conditions and farm type strongly influenced farmers' production methods and technological requirements.

• 2.

  2. Small farmers were eager to improve their methods.

• 3.

  3. The recommended ‘technological packages’ had many deficiencies.

• 4.

  4. Technical knowledge was available to solve some farmers' problems.

• 5.

  5. Most technologies could not be directly ‘transferred’ to farmers, but needed to be tailored to their specific needs.

• 6.

  6. Scientific specialization presented several barriers to interdisciplinary research.

• 7.

  7. The project was costly, in terms of operating capital.

• 8.

  8. The project's most valuable result was an institutional innovation, not an impact on potato production.

• 9.

  9. Informal surveys and simple on-farm trials had many advantages over more ‘respectable’, formal methods.

• 10.

  10. Anthropologists played many useful roles.

• 11.

  11. Many results of the on-farm research could be extrapolated.

• 12.

  12. On-farm research was useful for identifying and solving production problems within existing systems, but not for designing entirely new systems.

This paper puts forward the proposition that a preoccupation of the development experts with ‘new ideas’ is prejudicial to the essential process of learning by experience and points to the widening gap between development theory and achievements in the field. It is stated that what is needed is not so much theory but practical solutions to basic local problems and concrete steps toward removal of basic deficiencies in national structures. The paper questions the general tendency to accept blindly anything presented under moralistic labels and suggests that rethinking is needed not for building a new development design but to eliminate faulty thinking accumulated over the years. A number of examples of this faulty thinking are cited. It is concluded that for its success rural development has to be growth oriented, egalitarian and democratic.

Rainwater harvesting is long established in India, with three systems of particular note. Inundation is the basis of the Khadin system in Rajastan, percolation tanks and wells are the basis of water harvesting in Maharashtra, and tanks with gravity-fed channels are the main system in Tamil Nadu. There is also a recent development in the Siwalik hills to establish tanks and gravity-fed channels which attempt to achieve conservation, afforestation and farm production goals together.

Operating small schemes for rainwater harvesting requires a certain amount of village-scale organisation to carry out construction, regulate grazing and forestry, and maintain facilities. It can be costly to ensure that the poor benefit from such projects and difficult to prevent, in turn, the better off from becoming envious of the benefits obtained by the poor. Water harvesting should operate within the framework of local society and not against it.

Research indicates that farmers suffer a considerable number of economic, administrative and social difficulties during road developments. To throw light on the extent and the causes an examination was undertaken of the effects of major road developments on two Cumbrian agricultural estates in the United Kingdom. The estates differed in size, resources, and socioeconomic orientation and experience with their respective road schemes. The larger estate had more resources to plan effectively from the early stages, to enter into mutually beneficial arrangements with planners and contractors, and was able to administer the compensation negotiations effectively. The smaller, more typical, estate did not have the resources to plan effectively, and consequently suffered the usual difficulties that emerge from road developments, without reaping the benefits witnessed in the former example. The professional expertise and negotiating power available to the larger estate emerges as a crucial factor. Benefits to the National Farm would result from increasing the professional expertise available to affected farmers to provide similar negotiating capability.

Apart from the fortunate minority who take over the family farm unhindered by any problems of inheritance, entry into farming poses many difficulties for those wishing to come into the industry. Because of the activities of several agencies, in particular those of the Rural Banking and Finance Corporation, young New Zealanders have much assistance in their efforts to start farming in their own right. This paper examines the various schemes available for this purpose in New Zealand. It is a country so highly dependent on the contribution of agriculture to its national economy that it is almost incumbent on the part of the authorities to facilitate the establishment of the next generation of farmers in order to preserve the country's economic well-being. Whether New Zealand's experience in this activity has any relevance in other parts of the world is a matter for conjecture but the information in this paper should assist in that consideration.

The nature of the relationships between industry and public agricultural research programs in USA land-grant universities (LGUs) is explored historical

An analysis has been made of industry-oriented reasons for the inclusion of new material in a sample of 267 single lectures given by lecturers in 55 agricultural colleges in England and Wales. Nine categories of reasons are identified and are quantified in terms of six subject groups.

Variation in the level of lecture renewal between the subject groups is discussed in terms of the nature of the source and of the subject matter. Comparisons are made with the practice adopted in agricultural education and extension in Australia and India. Recommendations are made for the management of curriculum development and related staff development.