SMALL FARM MULTIPLE CROPPING SYSTEMS RESEARCH

RESEARCH WILL BE CONDUCTED PRIMARILY ON WORKING FARMS RATHER THAN RESEARCH STATIONS AND WILL STUDY EXISTING FARM SYSTEMS AND RESOURCES AND THE INTERACTION THE SEVERAL CROP AND LIVESTOCK ENTERPRISES TYPICALLY CONDUCTED BY SMALL-HOLDERS. THIS RESEARCH WILL ADAPT EXISTING TECHNOLOGY TO THE NEEDS OF THE SMALL FARMER AND RESULT IN DEVELOPMENT OF MANAGEMENT AND PRODUCTION RECOMMENDATIONS WHICH CAN BE EASILY DISSEMINATED BY EXTENSION AGENTS AND READILY ADOPTED BY FARMERS. DURING FIRST YEAR, RESEARCH WILL BE LIMITED TO COLLECTION OF SMALL FARMER DATA; INTERVENTIONS WILL BE LIMITED TO INTRODUCTION OF CLEARLY ADVANTAGEOUS TECHNIQUES TO EXISTING SYSTEMS. DURING SECOND YEAR, INITIAL ALTERATIONS WILL BE LIMITED TO CHANGES IN PLANTING DATES AND USE OF IMPROVED SEEDS AND FERTILIZERS TO FACILITATE MULTIPLE CROPPING. DURING THIRD YEAR, MORE EXTENSIVE CHANGES WILL BE INTRODUCED, AND DURING FOURTH YEAR SYSTEMS CHANGES BASED ON PREVIOUSLY GATHERED EMPIRICAL DATA WILL BE INITIATED. PRIOR TO INITIATION OF RESEARCH, A RECONNAISANCE SURVEY WILL IDENTIFY ECOLOGICAL ZONES AND FARMING SYSTEMS WITHIN EACH COUNTRY AND IDENTIFY TARGET AREAS. A DETAILED SURVEY OF THESE AREAS WILL IDENTIFY COOPERATING FARMERS, DEFINE THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THEIR OPERATIONS, AND IDENTIFY DATA TO BE MONITORED ON A CONTINUING BASIS. ANNUAL EXPERIMENTAL PLANS WILL BE PREPARED FOR EACH COUNTRY, SPECIFYING INTERVENTIONS TO BE TESTED AND PROPOSED METHODS OF TESTING. SURVEYS AND ON-FARM RESEARCH WILL RESULT IN CREATION OF A SMALL FARMER SOCIO-ECONOMIC DATA BASE FOR THE EAST CARIBBEAN AREA; DESIGN OF AT LEAST 12 SMALL-HOLDER FARMING SYSTEMS, AND THE TRANSMITTAL OF RESEARCH FINDINGS AND IMPROVED TECHNOLOGIES TO NATIONAL PLANNING BODIES.