multipurpose tree species research for small farms: strategies ... - part

Applying Fanning Systems Research Concepts and Methods to the
Development of Multipurpose Tree Species
Richard Hawkins, Achmad Rachman and Hasil Sembiring
The extension to small farners of agroforcstry
technology involving multipurp ,etree species
(MPTS) lags behind what is perceived to be
technically feasible. This is similar to the situation
encountered by annual.crop researchers and
extensionists 15-20 years ago, which led to the
growth of farming systems research (FSR)
concepts and methods.
FSR concepts and methods are reviewed for
relevance to research, extension, and policy making
involvin MPTS technology. The broad approach
to FSR involves a progression from defining
production problems andopportunities for better
use ot available production resources, through
design and evaluation of improved technology, to
extension of the new practices on a wider scale.
To use this approach with MiITS, more
emphasis will need to be placed on refining
methods for technology testing. Methods currently
used in FSR have not focused on evaluating
technologies providing multiple products over a
period or several years, or which affect long-term
sustainability through soil fertility and erosion
control. In spite of the original intentions of FSR
practitioners, the participation of farmers in the
design and evaluation of technology also needs to
bc increased.
Current research plans and preliminary results
of the Uplands Agriculture Conservation Project
in Java are discusscd. These activities include
farmer meetings, surveys, and experiments
managed by both researchers and farmers.
Background
In the early 1970s, there was concern that the
roducts of agricultural research were not
enefitting many resource poor farmers of the
world. New technology was usually aimed at
maximizing the yield of a particular commodity,
and did not take into account the compromises
necessary to maximize the overall productivity or
economic return of the whole farm. Researchers
Upland Agriculture (nsarvaion Projet
Salatip, Indonesia
Centre for SiLs Research
UACP in Qntirl and East Java, Indonesia
155
with fertile research stations, and somebody
else's money, did not take into account the
aspirations, resource base and cash limitations
that determine farmers' choices. Research was
needed to adapt improved technology to
farmers' conditions, a situation not unlike that
concerning technology for MPTS today.
Farming systems research (FSR) quickly
became the popular remedy for this concern.
Just as quickly, FSR included an almost
bcwildering array of different procedures and
termino!ogies. Most of these differences in
procedure can be attributed to the production
environment and problems being addressed by
farmers when procedures were being developed
(Harrington et a/. 1989). Despite the
differences in emphasis and particular research
methods, most of the procedures share a broad
similarity in underlying philosophy and overall
approach. Fundamental to this approach, and
to what will be referred to as FSR in this paper,
are three points (adapted from Harrington el
al.):
- a diagnostic function, to enable the selection
of research priorities relevant to the farmer's
circumstances;
- evaluation of tle interaction between the
introduce'd technology and other components
of the farming system, to determine the
overall impact; and
- the conduct of much of the research and
development on-farm, where farmers can
actively participate in the evaluation of the
techhology.
The objectives of this paper are to review the
utility of FSR methods for developing MPTS
technology, assess current and future trends,
and give examples from an FSR project in
Central Java.