Agriculture || THE ROLE OF MINI-RESEARCH STATIONS IN INCREASING FARM PRODUCTIVITY IN THE CARIBBEAN

THE ROLE OF MINI-RESEARCH STATIONS IN INCREASING FARM PRODUCTIVITY IN THECARIBBEANAuthor(s): HORACE PAYNESource: Caribbean Quarterly, Vol. 18, No. 1, Agriculture (MARCH 1972), pp. 24-28Published by: University of the West Indies and Caribbean QuarterlyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40653234 .

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THE ROLE OF MINI RESEARCH STATIONS IN INCREASING FARM PRODUCTIVITY IN THE CARIBBEAN

From a Lecture presented at the Annual General Meeting Association for the Co-operation of Research in Bananas in the Caribbean and Tropical America. Jamaica, July 1971.

Research in Caribbean agriculture must, of necessity, be directed at solving current problems responsible for low land productivity. The problem of increasing land productivity is not only agronomic but a very complex socio-economic one.

The failure of farmers to adopt recommended practices that would result in a significant increase of yield and farm income, is due partly to the fact that "Customs die hard" and partly that research or its extension agent have not demonstrated convincingly the success of the improved techniques under the farmer's peculiar conditions. Mini research stations operated on the farmer's holding provide an essential link between research, extension and farm. INTRODUCTION

Perhaps there is not a more concise statement on the policy for research in Caribbean Agriculture than:

"Our territories of the Caribbean cannot afford the academic exercise of research for research sake. Along with research must go a programme for and of positive action that will carry the results of our research to every farmer on his large or small holding, where it can be converted and translated for him into hard cash and increased production, thus benefitting the individual farmer and the nation".1

This policy for applied research is amply justified not only on the grounds of the limited resources of both funds and qualified personnel of a developing region but by the fact that low land productivity has been identified as the factor limiting the economy of the Caribbean.



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Low Land Productivity In 1965 the paper "Research Priorities in Jamaican Agriculture"2 gave a clear

assessment of the significance of agriculture on the Jamaican scene. Agriculture the greatest employer of labour (over 40%) was responsible for a disproportionately small and actually declining fraction (less than 1 2%) of the Gross Domestic Product. With population growth (3.2 per 1 ,000 per year) the value of food imports was rising rapidly. Limited land space dictated that increased production come from the adoption and optimal application of improved husbandry practices. Traditional techniques of vegetables and food crop production were particularly under fire - 22 instead of 70 bushels of corn per acre and citrus, 1 box instead of 5 boxes of oranges per tree. Every crop testified the need for intensified production. Economic consideration must inform the whole exercise as interest lay not in the highest yield but in the greatest profit. Farmers Attitudes - the main factor

The problem of low productivity on farms in the Caribbean has emerged3 as not merely agronomic but a very complex socio-economic one. Many factors intricately interwoven and dependent on each other are involved. For example, there are problems of uneconomic farm size involving such factors as land tenure and fragmentation. Here in Jamaica 71% of the total number of farms occupy only 1 2% of the total area of land in farms while 97% of the farms occupy only 34% of the farm land. The other 3% of the total number of farms occupy 66% of the area in farms.2 This highly skewed distribution of the number of farms in relation to the size of farms causes much inefficiency in agriculture. There are problems of farm labour. The average age of farm operators has increased progressively to between 55 and 60 years old and with this increase of average age, the standard of farm upkeep generally has declined appreciably. In general, the youths are disenchanted with agricultural pursuits and often prefer to be idle in the cities rather than bear the social stigma of agriculture. There are also numerous problems due to the lack of capital and proper marketing. Momentous as these socio-economic problems are, it is farmers attitudes and resistance to giving up traditional methods of cultivation that has proven to be the factor primarily responsible for the low level of land productivity in the Caribbean. To show the magnitude of the disparity between improved and traditional methods, a comparison of production cost of one acre of red peas on farmer's holdings is set out on page 28.4

Perhaps it is more important to cite examples from Bananas referred by some as "Green Gold". Yet most farms are averaging less than 3 tons instead of over 9 tons per acre. To dwell on the economic significance of this disparity would be guilty of "gilding the lily". The Gap Between Research, Extension and Farm

Under normal circumstances, as the findings of research (experiments) become available to the extension officer (Extension presupposes the knowledge to extend) it is necessary for him to translate the results into terms that their



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practical relevance become more apparent. The extension officer has to take the farmer's particular natural condition, his peculiar managerial ability and his other resources and goals into account in considering the application of the practise in question. In advising farmers, a course needs to be steered between neglecting to transmit well established knowledge, thus losing the opportunity of using new lines of investigation and on the other hand, putting more weight on the available knowledge than it can bear, with the result that the persons acting on the knowledge will, on occasions, suffer disappointment and so develop a lack of confidence in the advisors who innocently mislead them5. Finally, the individual farmer must then test a new practice under his conditions and judge its value to him in the light of his circumstances. Hence to realise an increase in land productivity there must be well experienced and highly trained extension officers on the one hand and farmers willing and able to try out recommended practices on the other. Unfortunately, most farmers are unable to risk experimenting and there is often an insufficient number of extension officers to grant the necessary individual attention to farmers to effect a change of attitude. Under the circumstances it is not surprising that many attempts at increasing land productivity have proven little better than "spinning a top in mud". How then Cfin we bridge the gap between research, extension and the farm? The merits of carrying out research on the farm, involving the farmer, from the start and at every stage, should be fully exploited. It is in this regard that mini research stations have great potential, research and extension value.

MINI RESEARCH STATIONS As a result of a number of years of operation, the Regional Field

Experimental Programme (Jamaica) of the University of the West Indies realised the expense and difficulty of supervising widely scattered small trial plots (less than Vi acre) devoted to a single investigation. It therefore resorted to carrying out its operations on larger sites of 2-3 acres on which it was feasible to undertake several investigations simultaneously. These enlarged experimental areas termed "Mini Research Stations" are representative of a major soil type in its main ecological region (rainfall and elevation) and are located on the holdings of co-operating farmers as selected with the guidance of extension officers. The expense of developing and operating these experimental areas is shared with the farmer who receives the benefit of the crop in exchange for the use of his land and some labour assistance. For example, fence posts and wire are provided and the farmer undertakes fencing off the experimental area from the remainder of his farm. Tillage, crop establishment and technical measures involving fertilizing and spraying etc. are all carried out undep the research programme, but the farmer contributes his labour by cleaning up the land before and after tillage operations; he also assists in weeding and harvesting. However, most important is the protection from predial larceny and damage provided by the farmer since this ensures the validity of experimental results.

A Means of Multi-disciplinary Investigation The area of Mini Research Stations are sufficiently large to provide space for



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a number of statistically designed experiments directed at solving a wide range of agronomic problems limiting the level of production of the main food crops and vegetables extensively grown on the soil type in question. The experiments conducted usually involve fertility and variety assessment, population densities as well as plant protection, i.e. insect, disease and weed control. This multi-disciplinary approach is very important in agricultural research as several factors of different scientific disciplines are involved and anyone of them might prove limiting. The advantage of a team of scientists working together therefore becomes a reality in this modus operandi. A Method of Agricultural Extension

It is generally accepted that "one demonstration is worth a thousand explanations". The participating farmer and those in the neighbourhood appreciate that the investigations being carried out are directed at solving their problems and can readily draw their own conclusions as to what practices suit their conditions. The operations on the experimental areas also provide opportunity to train workers recruited in the district, in the technical skills involved.

The whole problem of farmers training is simplified. A marked improvement in the husbandry of farms adjoining mini-research stations has been observed and recently the Santa Cruz Land Authority has spearheaded the use of mini-research stations as a method of extension in their drive to increase peanut production in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. It is important to stress the essential difference between Mini Research Stations and standard demonstrational or observational plots the teaching value of which are well known and long established. Though having identical teaching value, mini-research stations are more scientific and allow statistical experimentation which is very important in the Caribbean with its highly varied soil, topographic and climatic conditions within very short distances. Scientific findings fully established at a major agricultural station cannot be "demonstrated" at widely scattered locations with any confidence of success. The recommended practice must be "tried out" first in the new area and as already stated the average farmer can ill afford to experiment. Even the usual observational plot, established on the farmer's holding with extension support lacks scientific value in that they do not permit statistical comparison. Any successful demonstration is therefore a matter of chance. Occasions of failure of so called "demonstration plots" are too frequent. This might be due to factors outside the control of the extension officer, but to say the least the farmer remains unconvinced. Often however, failure of the recommended practice is due to lack of consideration of environmental factors which would have become evident in a properly statistically designed experiment. In a nut-shell, research and extension officers alike, cannot lightly ignore the years of accumulated experience of farmers when recommending a new measure as an improved practise.

CONCLUSION The problem of increasing land productivity in the Caribbean is a very



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complex one. In order for research to have its proper impact raising land productivity, the farmer must be more directly involved, Mini research stations on farmer's holding have a special double barrel role in bridging the gap between Research, extension and farm.

HORACE PAYNE

Production Cost of Red Peas Phaseolus Vulgaris) One Acre

Improved Method Traditional Method $ $

1. Labour operation 105.00 96.00 2. Materials 58.00 8.00 3. Other charges 20.00 13.00

Grand Total 183.00 117.00 Estimated yield 1 ,600 lbs. 600 lbs Cost per lb. 11.4c 19.5c

At an average market price of 25c per lb. Gross Return $400.00 $ 1 50.00 Net Profit $217.00 $ 33.00

REFERENCES

1. Opening address by the Hon. H. Green, Acting Minister of Agriculture, Guyana to the 9th Annual meeting of the Caribbean Food Crop Society, Guyana, June 1971 . 2. Caribbean Affairs, "Agricultural Research in Jamaica" presented by Winston G. Stuart, Chief Technical Officer, Ministry of Agriculture & Lands. 3. An Economic Study of Small Farming in Jamaica by David Edwards, U.W.I. 4. "Aspects of Red Pea (Phaseolus Vulgaris L.) Cultivation in Jamaica with Special Reference to Fertilizer Use on Bauxite Soils by H.W. Payne. 5. Caribbean Affairs "A Strategy for Agricultural Research in Jamaica" by Dr. D.T. Edwards, U.W.I.



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Agriculture || THE ROLE OF MINI-RESEARCH STATIONS IN INCREASING FARM PRODUCTIVITY IN THE CARIBBEAN