Chapter 3:

Farming systems
research and
development (FSR/D)
 Chapter objectives:
After completing this chapter; the learners
should be able to
• Discuss the concepts of FSD
• State the characteristics of FSD
• Distinguish the difference between FSD &
station based research
• List the steps involved in FSD and
• Identify the key challenges of FSD
 3.1. Concepts of farming system research (FSR)

• The farming systems research (FSR) approach

is aimed at designing agricultural
improvements for specific ecological zones
and types of farmers.
• Teams of technical and social scientists
analyze major farming systems, identify
production constraints, design ways to
alleviate them, test the innovations under
farmers' conditions and recommend the
extension of successful innovations (Harwood
1979).
• To meet the multiple objectives of poverty
reduction, food security, competitiveness and
sustainability, several researchers have
recommended the farming systems approach to
research and development.

• A farming system is the result of complex

interactions among a number of inter-
dependent components, where an individual
farmer allocates certain quantities and qualities
of four factors of production, namely land,
labour, capital and management to which he
has access (Mahapatra, 1994).
 3.2. Characteristics of FSR

• FSR can be summarized as being farmer-

based, problem solving, comprehensive,
interdisciplinary, complementary, interactive,
dynamic, and responsible to society. The
approach is:

• Farmer based because teams pay attention to

farmers’ conditions & integrate farmers in the
research & development process.
• Problem solving in that FSR teams seek
researchable problems and opportunities to guide
research & to identify ways for making local
services and national policies more attuned to the
farmers needs.

• Comprehensive because FSR team considers the

whole farming activity (consumption as well as
production) to learn how to improve the farmers
output and welfare, to identify the flexibility for
change in the environment & to evaluate the results
in terms of both farmers & society’s interests.
• Interdisciplinary in that researchers & extension staff
with different disciplinary back grounds work with
farmers in identifying problems & opportunities
searching for solutions implementing the results.

• Complementary: because it offers a means for using

the outputs of other research and development
organizations and for giving direction to others’ work.
• Interactive in that FSR teams use the results from
research to improve their understanding of the system
& to design subsequent research and implementation
approaches.
• Dynamic in that often team introduce
relatively modest changes in the farmers’
condition first & the favorable results
encourage more significant changes latter.

• Responsible to the society in that FSR team

keep the long-run interests of the general
public - both present & future in mind as well
as those of the farming groups immediately
affected.
 Purposes of FSR

• The main purpose of FSR approach is to generate

more appropriate technologies for farmers and
where possible to improve policies & support
services for farm production, to raise farm families
welfare and to enhance society’s goals.

• Specifically FSR aims at increasing the productivity of

farming systems by generating technologies for
particular groups of farmers & by developing insight
into which technologies fit where and why.
 FSR activities
• The basic FSR activities are target and research area
selection, problem identification and development of
research base, planning on-farm research, on-farm
research analysis and extension of results.
a) Target and Research area selection
• Using national & regional objectives, FSR team selects one
or more target areas, then the team divides the target
area into sub areas with relatively uniform characteristics
& selects a research area representative of the selected
areas. The team continues by choosing the target group
farmers who have common environments & common
production patterns & farming practices.
b) Problem identification & development of research
base
• The team identifies and ranks problems &
opportunities according to such criteria as short-run
& long-run significance to farmers & society,
availability of suitable technologies & ease of
implementation. Besides, the team commonly
identifies problems & opportunities through quick
reconnaissance surveys of the area.
• In the process of identifying problems &
opportunities the team gains considerable knowledge
about the area. This knowledge & the collected data
from the initial research base for developing
improved technologies.
c) Planning On-farm Research
• For most part the team takes resource
availability, support services, and government
policy about as they are.
• On farm research emphasizes alternative
cropping & livestock patterns, management
practices, and other activities of the farm
household. The team incorporates the
farmers’ condition into the design procedure
by working closely with them.
d) On-farm research analysis
• Three types of biological production
experiments are common:
i) Research managed trials to experiment
under farmers conditions where control of the
experiment is important.
ii) Farmer - managed tests: to test how
farmers respond to suggested improvements
iii) Superimposed trial to apply relatively
simple researcher managed experiments across
a range of farmer - managed condition.
• The researchers initiate experiments, studies
and other activities, and gather data. Then, they
analyze the results in terms of statistical
meaning of biological performance, actual
resource requirements, economic feasibility,
and socio-cultural acceptability.
• Researchers study the acceptability of the
experiments to farmers through observations of
farmer’s action talking with farmers, and other
ways. Finally, the researchers examine the
opportunities for improving support services
and government policies.
e) Extension of results
• Input from extension should occur at all levels
to FSR from initially identifying areas to broad
implementation results.
• Extending the results involves multi-locational
testing an activity that spreads the improved
technologies more broadly than the previous
on farm trials and tests. In this process they
learn the details of the technologies and how
to apply them.
 3.3 Steps for Implementing FSR/D

a) The descriptive, diagnostic stage

• An interdisciplinary team of expert

(agronomists, sociologist, economist,
ethnologists) identifies as quickly as possible
the voiced needs of the farming families, the
limits and constraints to which the families
are subject and the level of flexibility which
the existing farming system permit.
b) The design or planning stage

• A group of experts identifies a set of

strategies for solving the identified problems.
The proposed solutions can come from
knowledge obtained at experiment stations;
they can also be developed from the results
of field trials or from the farmer’s own
knowledge and experience.
c) The testing stage
• The most promising strategies are chosen by
discussing with the farming families and then
tested under conditions comparable to those
existing on the local farms. On farm research in
its different forms may also be part of this stage:
i) The research worker carries out trials on the farmer’s
land.
ii) The research worker supervises trials on the farmer’s
land.
iii) The farmer independently tests a proposed
innovation.
d) The recommendation and dissemination
stage

• This stage also contains a research element.

The innovations under trial observed and
analyzed by the farmer and the researcher.
3.4. Challenges of FSR/D
• A number of challenges face FSD if it is to continue
playing a significant role in facilitating the process of
agricultural development.
• Some of these are:
• Better Incorporation of Farmers, Incorporating
farmers into the research process was one of the
most important principles underlying the evolution
of the farming systems approach. The basic
justification for this was that farmers could improve
the efficiency of the research process.
Unfortunately, farming systems workers often have
not sufficiently recognized this positive and
interactive contribution of farmers.
• Continued Evolution of FSD. FSD is relatively new-
the methodology is still evolving.
• Greater Incorporation of the Policy/Support
System Perspective. As has been stressed already'
the farming systems approaches implemented to
date have focused mainly on the technology
dimension (i.e., FSR).
• However, a basic principle of the FSD approach is
that the farming systems perspective is critically
important in formulating and adapting
policy/support systems in ways that will facilitate
and accelerate the agricultural development
process.
• Incorporating Equity Issues -- Intra and lnter-
Generational. FSD tries to help the farmer
with the problems he or she has identified.
• Of course, the reason for this is the necessity
to introduce an intervention in which they are
interested; it’s likely that these 'felt, problems
of farmers are likely to have a short-run focus.
But; future needs should be focused as well.
• Assessing Agricultural Research Impact.
Related to the research resource issue is the
importance of devoting some effort to
assessing the impact of the research process -
something that often has been done
inadequately. More attention needs to be
paid to adoption/diffusion studies.
• Improving Credibility of FSD. Establishing
credibility for FSD-related activities is a major
challenge and is necessary to ensure that
some of the limited research resources always
will be allocated to them.
Development of farming systems and reduction
of hunger and poverty
• In broad terms, five main household
strategies were defined that could contribute
to improved farm household livelihoods and
escape from poverty.
• These strategic options are not mutually
exclusive, even at the individual household
level; any particular household will often
pursue a mixed set of strategies. The options
can be summarized as:
• intensification of existing production patterns;
• diversification of agricultural activities;
• expanded operated farm or herd size;
• increased off-farm income, both agricultural
and non-agricultural; and
• Complete exit from the agricultural sector
within a particular farming system.
• Intensification is defined as increased physical or
financial productivity of existing patterns of
production; including food and cash crops, livestock
and other productive activities.

• Diversification is defined as changes to existing

farm enterprise patterns in order to increase farm
income, or to reduce income variability.
Diversification will often take the form of
completely new enterprises, but may also simply
involve the expansion of existing, high value,
enterprises, and will be driven by market
opportunities.
• Expansion of enterprises refers not only to production,
but also to on-farm processing and other farm-based,
income generating activity.
Some households escape poverty by expanding farm
size - in this context size refers to managed rather than
to owned resources. Beneficiaries of land reform are
the most obvious examples of this source of poverty
reduction.
Increased farm size may also arise through incursion
into previously non-agricultural areas, such as forest -
often termed expansion of the agricultural frontier.
Increasingly, however, such `new' lands are marginal for
agricultural purposes, and may not offer sustainable
pathways to poverty reduction.
• Off-farm income represents an important source of
livelihood for many poor farmers. Seasonal migration
has been one traditional household strategy for
escaping poverty and remittances are often invested
in land or livestock purchases.
 In locations where there is a vigorous non-farm
economy, many poor households augment their
incomes with part-time or full-time off-farm
employment by some household members.
Where few opportunities exist for improved rural
livelihoods, farm households may abandon their land
altogether, and move to other farming systems, or
into non-farming occupations in rural or urban
locations.
Determinants of Farming Systems
• The key categories of determinants influencing
farming system are as follows:
(i) Natural Resources and Climate: The
interaction of natural resources, climate and
population determines the physical basis for
farming systems.
• The increased variability of climate, and thus
agricultural productivity, substantially
increases the risk faced by farmers, with the
concomitant reduction in investment and
input use.
(ii) Science and Technology: Investment in
agricultural science and technology has
expanded rapidly during the last four decades.
• During this period, major technical and
institutional reforms occurred, which shaped
the pattern of technology development and
dissemination.
(iii) Trade Liberalization and Market
Development: Markets have a critical role to play
in agricultural development as they form the
linkages between farm, rural and urban economics
upon which the development processes depend.
• As a result of the reduction of impediments to
international trade and investment, the process
of trade liberalization is already generating
changes in the structure of production at all
levels-including small holder-farming systems in
many developing countries.
(iv) Policies, Institutions and Public goods: The
development of dynamic farming systems requires a
conducive policy environment. Moreover, the
establishment of the farm-rural-urban linkages
requires effective demand.
• Policy makers have increasingly shifted their
attention to the potential to increase the efficiency
of service delivery through the restructuring of
institutions.
• The production incentives have dramatic effect on
farming systems. Policies on land ownership,
water management and taxation reform etc have
a great bearing on types of farming system in a
region or area.
(v) Information and Human Capital: The need for
better information and enhanced human capital has
also increased, as production systems have become
more integrated with regional, national and
international market systems.
• Lack of education, information and training is
frequently a key limiting factor to smallholder
development. Many observers anticipated an
information revolution i.e. bridge gap of knowledge
between scientists and farmers will be very key
factor for agricultural growth of these small farmers.
 (vi) Indigenous Technological Knowledge:
Indigenous technical knowledge is the
knowledge that people in a given community
has developed over times, and continues to
develop.
• It is based on experience, often tested over
long period of use, adapted to local culture
and environment, dynamic and changing, and
lays emphasis on minimizing risks rather than
maximizing profits.
• The ITK covers a wide spectrum – soil water and
nutrient management; pasture and fodder
management; crop cultivation; plant protection;
farm equipment, farm power, post-harvest
preservation and management; agro-forestry;
bio-diversity conservation and also exploitation;
animal rearing and health care; animal products
preservation and management; fisheries and fish
preservation; and ethnic foods and homestead
management. Thus, the ITK of a farmer has a
great influence in managing the farm and farming
system