Farming systems research

• Main Author: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation 2014
• Subjects: Tripp; Baffin
• Online Access: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/45737; http://collections.infocollections.org/ukedu/en/d/Jcta38e/

The urgency of improving the productivity of small-farm agriculture in the developing world is widely recognized. Not only is this essential for providing an adequate food supply to the world's poor, but a dynamic agricultural sector is also a key to more balanced and robust economic development. The challenge of making small-farm agriculture more efficient is difficult, especially because it depends on improving production from a large number of farms operating under a wide range of conditions, constraints and objectives. The task is shared by many people, including farmers policy makers and academics, but an important part of the burden falls on agricultural researchers and extension agents.' These words were written by Robert Tripp in the introduction to his book Planned change in farming systems:progress in on-farm research. He continues, 'From time to time, searches for order and direction in agricultural or rural development produce what might be called a movement'.' This book is concerned with one such movement: farming systems research (FSR). The book is presented in three parts. Part I provides an introduction to the FSR movement and to on-farm research. Part 2 instances actual case studies from a number of African, Asian and Latin American countries and Part 3 deals with future directions for on-farm research. Another book concerned with this subject is Farming systems development: guidelines for the conduct of a training course in farming systems development. Produced by FAO, the guidelines have been prepared for trainers to conduct courses in Farming Systems Development to facilitate the training of frontline extension and development agents in resource-poor countries in the FSD approach. Planned change in farming systems: progress in on-farm research edited by R Tripp 1991 348pp lSBN 0471 93417 8 hbk UKL39.95 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, Baffin Lane, Chichester, West Sussex PO19 1UD UK and Farming systems development: guidelines for the conduct of a training course in farming systems development FAO ...