The need to obtain more bio-physical agroforestry data from on-farm
situations is emphasized. Two methods are discussed: studies of
single established multipurpose trees and on-farm experimentation.
Some of the complexities of the former are described and briefly
illustrated. A new approach to on-farm experimentation is proposed
which involves randomly sampling natural conditions on-farm which are
selected to be relevant and useful comparisons ("ecological"
treatments) and/or with added manipulations ("interference"
treatments). The advantages of this ecological approach using any
"quadrats" designs are discussed vis-a-vis classical conventionally
designed experiments which may not be perceived by the farmer as so
relevant nor lend themselves to his active participation so readily
Publication year
1988
Authors
Keywords
Agroforestry, Experimentation, Multipurpose trees, On-farm research, Surveys
