Data collection, site selection and farmer participation in on-farm experimentation

Description of the various types of data available during this phase and guidelines for organizing their collection are herein presented. A discussion of trial site selection focuses on the importance of identifying recommendation domains (relatively homogenous groups of farmers), cooperating with local extension agents, ensuring logistic feasibility, and identifying and communicating with farmer collaborators. A field book for recording various types of data, from data on planting and trial plot (and farmer) characteristics to data on trial results, is described (and reproduced in an appendix), and data collection possibilities in other areas (e.g., prices, weather, and farmer adoption of the recommended practice) are discussed. A set of recommendations is appended to each major section of the paper. The importance of flexibility is noted in conclusion, as is the researcher"s need to use on-farm experiments to establish a partnership with farmers and extensionists which will benefit the research.