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Re-integrating agricultural research

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 October 2009

Jill Shore Auburn  and
Brian P. Baker
Jill Shore Auburn
Affiliation:
Information Systems Manager, Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education Program, University of California, Davis, CA 95616.
Brian P. Baker
Affiliation:
Technical Program Coordinator, California Certified Organic Farmers, PO Box 8136, Santa Cruz, CA 95061.
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Abstract

Interaction between farmers and researchers has benefits for both groups. Researchers gain an understanding of farmers' needs and the production system into which new techniques must fit; farmers are helped in adopting new techniques, and get insights into why some techniques are more successful than others. However, communication between farmers and researchers usually has been just from the university to the farmer. The recovery of information from farmers, integration of techniques into whole production systems, and the research priorities of farmers have not been very important to researchers.

An exception has been in sustainable agriculture, where some researchers have been asking farmers what they are doing and what they want the university to do, and spending time observing existing practices before they design research trials. Ideally, farmers and researchers interact as equals, sharing information and expertise. We present examples from California and New York that show that this approach is highly effective, and recommend policie s to expand on this approach in researchfunding, training of research and extension personnel, and the dissemination ofinformation. We also discuss practical ways to carry out those policies, drawn from the experiences of both university and private non-profit organizations.

Keywords

farmer-researcher cooperationadvisory committeeson-fann researchextensionsustainable agriculture
Type
Selected Papers from Conference on “Innovative Policies for Agricultural Research,” Boston, MA, November 21–22, 1991
Information
American Journal of Alternative Agriculture , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , September 1992 , pp. 105 - 110
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1992

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