ON-FARM TRIALS FOR DEVELOPMENT IMPACT? THE ORGANISATION OF RESEARCH AND THE SCALING OF AGRICULTURAL TECHNOLOGIES

2017 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
NINA DE ROO ◽  
JENS A. ANDERSSON ◽  
TIMOTHY J. KRUPNIK
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Operational Space ◽  
Farmer Selection ◽  
On Farm

SUMMARYChanges in donor priorities have meant that agronomists working in the tropics find themselves in a fundamentally new operational space, one that demands rapid improvements in farmers' livelihoods resulting from the large-scale adoption of new technologies and crop management practices. As a result, on-farm trials in contemporary Agricultural Research for Development (AR4D) are increasingly implemented both to collect data and to spur farmer adoption. We examine the different interpretations and organisational practices of AR4D organisations in this new operational space, and reflect on the usefulness of on-farm trials for agricultural technology scaling. Three case studies are presented to address these questions – two in sub-Saharan Africa and one in South Asia. Each study is considered in light of Science and Technology Studies theory and locates science as a politically situated practice, recognising the tension that scientists face between providing evidence and persuading selected audiences. The case studies show that this tension results in the introduction of several biases that limit the scalability of the technologies under investigation. These include biases at the level of the trial location, host-farmer selection, trial design, management and evaluation. We conclude by discussing how the contemporary political and institutional environment of AR4D produces project beneficiaries and research outcomes on selected farms, but not necessarily impacts at scale.

scholarly journals Precision Agriculture for Resource Use Efficiency in Smallholder Farming Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 1158
Author(s):  
Cecilia M. Onyango ◽  
Justine M. Nyaga ◽  
Johanna Wetterlind ◽  
Mats Söderström ◽  
Kristin Piikki
Keyword(s):  
Resource Use ◽  
Precision Agriculture ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
English Language ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Smallholder Farming ◽  
Sub Saharan

Opportunities exist for adoption of precision agriculture technologies in all parts of the world. The form of precision agriculture may vary from region to region depending on technologies available, knowledge levels and mindsets. The current review examined research articles in the English language on precision agriculture practices for increased productivity among smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. A total of 7715 articles were retrieved and after screening 128 were reviewed. The results indicate that a number of precision agriculture technologies have been tested under SSA conditions and show promising results. The most promising precision agriculture technologies identified were the use of soil and plant sensors for nutrient and water management, as well as use of satellite imagery, GIS and crop-soil simulation models for site-specific management. These technologies have been shown to be crucial in attainment of appropriate management strategies in terms of efficiency and effectiveness of resource use in SSA. These technologies are important in supporting sustainable agricultural development. Most of these technologies are, however, at the experimental stage, with only South Africa having applied them mainly in large-scale commercial farms. It is concluded that increased precision in input and management practices among SSA smallholder farmers can significantly improve productivity even without extra use of inputs.

Development of more effective conservation farming systems through participatory on-farm research

1999 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 98-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.B. Wuest ◽  
D.K. McCool ◽  
B.C. Miller ◽  
R.J. Veseth
Keyword(s):  
Participatory Research ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Farming Systems ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
Conservation Farming ◽  
Working Together ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Current Emphasis

AbstractResearch aimed at advancing conservation farming practices is typically performed using traditional scientific approaches, which have been highly successful in increasing agricultural output and efficiency. With the current emphasis on environmental and economic sustainability of agriculture, there is a need for a more integrated approach to applied agricultural research. Participatory research helps to bring scientific methods and the integrated production needs of farmers together to develop practical, effective, and carefully tested farming methods. The strength of participatory research is in the synergism of scientists and farmers working together to design, implement, and evaluate research. The development of new technologies for farming systems large or small, conventional or organic, can be greatly enhanced through more extensive use of participatory research.

Challenges for India’s Agriculture: Towards a New Green Revolution?

2021 ◽  
pp. 13
Author(s):  
Ellina P. Shavlay
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
New Delhi ◽  
Indian Government ◽  
Primary Sector ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Gradual Introduction

Agriculture continues to be one of the most significant sectors of India's economy today. The country is successfully performing in a wide range of primary sector fields, gradually increasing its export potential. However, the first green revolution caused significant damage to the country's resources, as a result of which, in the post-bipolar period, the state began to take actions aimed at changing the established practices of the last century. However, the second revolution, which began in the 1990s, did not solve all the difficulties. In this regard, the author's goal is to analyze the existing key problems of the primary sector and consider possible answers to them in the field of innovative technologies. The author comes to the conclusion that it is the digitalization of agricultural activities that could qualitatively increase the level of income of the population and the efficiency of the primary sector both in the domestic and foreign markets. At the same time, the introduction of new technologies is impossible without changing the institutional environment and work on socio-cultural factors that have a substantial negative impact not only on India's agriculture, but on all socio-economic processes in general, and therefore New Delhi will need to take comprehensive measures on a large scale rather than limit oneself to the primary economic sector. The Indian government has to carry out a comprehensive reform of its economy, otherwise there is a great threat of undermining social stability. The gradual introduction of innovative solutions and digitalization of agriculture will have a relatively quick, visible, but at the same time sustainable effect.

scholarly journals Adoption of forage technologies

2013 ◽  
pp. 39-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Caradus ◽  
Simon Lovatt ◽  
Bruce Belgrave
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
White Clover ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Current Management ◽  
Farm Productivity ◽  
Farmer Management ◽  
On Farm

Pastoral farmers seek to continue to increase on-farm productivity, and to do this they need new forage options that they can adopt into their current management strategies. Four case studies show that New Zealand farmers have rapidly adopted new technologies that include forage herbs, white clovers with improved stolon growing point densities, and novel endophyte technologies. The less disruptive these technologies are to accepted farmer management strategies the greater the likelihood of adoption. Keywords: Forage technologies, adoption, chicory, white clover, endophytes

scholarly journals Assessment of the Use of Geographically Weighted Regression for Analysis of Large On-Farm Experiments and Implications for Practical Application

Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1720
Author(s):  
Fiona H. Evans ◽  
Angela Recalde Salas ◽  
Suman Rakshit ◽  
Craig A. Scanlan ◽  
Simon E. Cook
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Variation ◽  
Geographically Weighted Regression ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Treatment Effects ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Response To Treatment ◽  
Weighted Regression ◽  
Yield Response ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
On Farm

On-farm experimentation (OFE) is a farmer-centric process that can enhance the adoption of digital agriculture technologies and improve farm profitability and sustainability. Farmers work with consultants or researchers to design and implement experiments using their own machinery to test management practices at the field or farm scale. Analysis of data from OFE is challenging because of the large spatial variation influenced by spatial autocorrelation that is not due to the treatment being tested and is often much larger than treatment effects. In addition, the relationship between treatment and yield response may also vary spatially. We investigate the use of geographically weighted regression (GWR) for analysis of data from large on-farm experiments. GWR estimates local regressions, where data are weighted by distance from the site using a distance-decay kernel. It is a simple approach that can be easily explained to farmers and their agronomic advisors. We use simulated data to test the ability of GWR to separate yield variation due to treatment from any underlying spatial variation in yield that is not due to treatment; show that GWR kernel bandwidth can be based on experimental design to accurately separate the underlying spatial variability from treatment effects; and demonstrate a step-wise model selection approach to determine when the response to treatment is global across the experiment or locally varying. We demonstrate our recommended approach on two large-scale experiments conducted on farms in Western Australia to investigate grain yield response to potassium fertiliser. We discuss the implications of our results for routine practical application to OFE and conclude that GWR has potential for wide application in a semi-automated manner to analyse OFE data, improve farm decision-making, and enhance the adoption of digital technologies.

Applying innovations and new technologies for international collaborative wheat improvement

2006 ◽  
Vol 144 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. P. REYNOLDS ◽  
N. E. BORLAUG
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Crop Yields ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Crop Improvement ◽  
Green Revolution ◽  
Crop Management ◽  
International Collaborative

Despite the successes of the Green Revolution, about a billion people are still undernourished and food security in the developing world faces new challenges in terms of population growth, reduced water resources, climate change and decreased public sector investment. It is also becoming widely recognized that poverty is a cause of environmental degradation, conflict and civil unrest. Internationally coordinated agricultural research can play a significant role in improving food security by deploying promising new technologies as well as adapting those with well-established impact.In addition to the genetic challenges of crop improvement, agriculturalists must also embrace the problems associated with a highly heterogeneous and unpredictable environment. Not only are new genetic tools becoming more accessible, but a new generation of quantitative tools are available to enable better definition of agro-ecosystems, of cultivar by environment interactions, and of socio-economic issues, while satellite imagery can help predict crop yields on large scales. Identifying areas of low genetic diversity – for example as found in large tracts of South Asia – is an important aspect of reducing vulnerability to disease epidemics. Global strategies for incorporating durable disease resistance genes into a wider genetic background, as well as participatory approaches that deliver a fuller range of options to farmers, are being implemented to increase cultivar diversity.The unpredictable effects of environment on productivity can be buffered somewhat by crop management practices that maintain healthy soils, while reversing the consequences of rapid agricultural intensification on soil degradation. Conservation agriculture is an alternative strategy that is especially pertinent for resource-poor farmers.The potential synergy between genetic improvement and innovative crop management practices has been referred to as the Doubly Green Revolution. The unique benefits and efficiency of the international collaborative platform are indisputable when considering the duplications that otherwise would have been required to achieve the same impacts through unilateral or even bilateral programmes. Furthermore, while the West takes for granted public support for crucial economic and social issues, this is not the case in a number of less-developed countries where the activities of International Agricultural Research Centres (IARCs) and other development assistance organizations can provide continuity in agricultural research and infrastructure.

Exploration of building adaptations and retrofitting challenges in Ghana

2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 349-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.A. Oppong ◽  
M. Masahudu
Keyword(s):  
Project Management ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Central Banking ◽  
Existing Buildings ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Academic Paper ◽  
Constructive Dialogue

Purpose – The Ghanaian banking industry has over the last 20 years witnessed tremendous growth to the extent that rural banks are now expanding their activities into urban centres. Hitherto, rural banks operated in rural and peri-urban areas in Ghana, but nowadays, there is an upsurge of rural banks activities in the urban centres of Ghana; and, they operate from rented premises, most of which are existing buildings in the urban areas. To meet the banking demands and the urban banking competitions such as the introduction of new technologies and regulations, the rural banks endeavour to expand (refurbish) the old/existing buildings with inherent adaptation and retrofitting challenges. Even though, adaptation and retrofit projects may not be popular in Ghana at large scales, this paper through combined methodology of constructive dialogue, case studies and condition survey approaches presents rural banks projects in Ghana as case studies of refurbishment and maintenance to “unearth” and resonate some key challenges of managing adaptation and retrofits in Ghana for future effective projects management solutions during their conception and execution. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Through combined methodology of constructive dialogue, case studies and condition survey approaches this paper presents rural banks projects in Ghana as case studies of refurbishment and maintenance to “unearth” and resonate some key challenges of adaptation and retrofit projects. Findings – The condition survey revealed unprecedented infrastructural drive by rural banks throughout Ghana and their desire to penetrate the urban areas as well. However, this drive unfortunately as it appeared, is not informed and carried out within the confines and dictates of existing legislations in Ghana. Again, it was found that adaptations and retrofitting will improve and integrate the rural banks in the urban economy through prudent project management practices. Research limitations/implications – Availability of local researches and literature on adaptations and retrofitting as project management practices in Ghana. Practical implications – Retrofitting and adaptation projects in Ghana is crucial for project management practices on low-impact building as Ghana faces energy challenges. Social implications – This research brings to bear realistic programme to build capacity of personnel to strategically integrate the rural banks into the central banking system of Ghana as well as project management practices through better and effective monitoring for social, ethical and equity impacts of their project managers. Originality/value – Apparently, adaptation and retrofit projects are not be popular in Ghana at large scales and this is the first time an academic paper of a kind has been written to guide and manage future adaptation and retrofit projects during their conception and execution as well as project management practices in general.

scholarly journals Salinity stress on morphological and nutritional quality of Napier cultivars under hydroponic condition

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 102-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
MK Alam ◽  
NR Sarker ◽  
KM Nasiruddin ◽  
AM Shohael
Keyword(s):  
Salinity Stress ◽  
Nutritional Quality ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Biomass Yield ◽  
Agricultural Research ◽  
Hydroponic System ◽  
Salinity Levels ◽  
On Farm

The study was conducted to determine the effect of salinity stress on morphological and nutritional quality of Napier cultivars in terms of biomass yield, tiller numbers, leaf number, tiller height, shoot presence or absence per cutting, leaf condition, dry matter (DM) and crud protein (CP) content under hydroponic condition.  four Napier cultivars such as BLRI Napier-1, BLRI Napier-2, BLRI Napier-3 and BLRI Napier-4 were cultivated under hydroponic system developed by Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI) with some modifications. All the selected cultivars were grown by using BARI standard hydroponic solution. Five salinity levels were considered as treatments such as 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 dS m-1 using different NaCl concentrations corresponding to the nutrient solution which were noted as T1 to T5 and T0 was used as control where salinity level was 2.3 dSm-1.  Four Napier cultivars were grown with 4 replications under each salinity condition and all the treatments were arranged in a Randomized Complete Block (RCB) design. Shoot presence or absence per cutting and leaf condition were determined weekly. The results revealed that the biomass yield, number of tillers, leaf numbers, tiller height, shoot presence or absence per cutting, leaf condition, and DM   and CP content among all the cultivars were decreased linearly with the increased of salinity levels. On the basis of different morphological and nutritional parameters, tolerance level of different cultivars of Napier grass to salinity stress can be rated as: BLRI Napier-4>BLRI Napier-3 > BLRI Napier-2 >BLRI Napier-1. Further study need to determine the suitability for large scale adaptation under on-farm conditions.Bang. J. Anim. Sci. 2017. 46 (2): 102-108

scholarly journals Applying science as a tool for dairy farmers

2005 ◽  
pp. 61-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Savage ◽  
C. Lewis
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Dairy Farm ◽  
Gross Margin ◽  
Dairy Farmers ◽  
Dairy Systems ◽  
Operating Strategies ◽  
Gross Margins ◽  
On Farm ◽  
The Impact

Dairy Systems Monitoring (DSM) was developed out of response from dairy farmers for a benchmarking tool that made fair and equitable comparisons between farms. This benchmarking system is used by the clients to improve their productivity and profitability. The dairy farm simulation model UDDER is used to simulate the farm system. The input information is milk production from fencepost, and monthly data from the farm, including, areas, stock numbers, supplements, crops and nitrogen (N). The model is then calibrated to simulate the farms production, revised and validated monthly. There has been a successful uptake of this program. Currently 50 farms are involved. Dairy Systems Monitoring has generated change in the systems of participating farmers. Dairy Systems Monitoring has proven to be an effective tool to demonstrate the impact of a range of new technologies on farm systems. The tool is used on an ongoing basis to simulate and compare different operating strategies. It has the ability for clients to compare themselves to simular farms. A key benchmark that is analysed is the feed harvested. For every additional 1 tonne of dry matter (DM) harvested, the gross margin (GM) increases by $339/ha. The question this poses for participants is "how do we harvest more pasture"? Is it by growing more pasture, or improving management to harvest more of the existing pasture growth? Dairy Systems Monitoring is an effective extension tool to highlight the impact of new technologies or management practices on the client's farm program. Keywords: benchmarking, dairy farm programmes, feed harvested, gross margins, UDDER model

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