Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T09:11:33.432Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Agricultural Research Strategies for Favoured and Marginal Areas: the Experience of Farming Systems Research in Pakistan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 October 2008

Derek Byerlee
Affiliation:
International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Mexico, and Pakistan
Tariq Husain
Affiliation:
Enterprise and Development Consulting, Pakistan

Summary

This paper draws on the results of farming systems research (FSR) conducted over five years at eight sites distributed throughout Pakistan. The main research findings with respect to the irrigated plains, or favoured areas (four sites), and the marginal mountainous and rainfed areas (four sites) are summarized, with emphasis on the role of system interactions in technology development. In favoured areas, most system interactions occur between crops grown in multiple cropping patterns, whereas in marginal areas, crop-livestock interactions dominate. Appropriate research strategies for each kind of environment are discussed. It is concluded that although there is a need for quite different research strategies for favoured and marginal areas, the methods and perspective of FSR are equally appropriate and even critical for achieving future gains in agricultural productivity in each type of environment.

Estrategias de investigación agricola en zonas favorecidas y marginales: Experiencias recogidas durante la investigación de sistemas agrícolas en Pakistán

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahmad, Z., Tetlay, K. A., Asghar, C. & Longmire, J. (1990). Wheat Technologies and the Impact of AKRSP. Wheat Development in the Double Cropping Zone of Gilgit, 1988–1989. PARC/CIMMYT Paper 90–6. Islamabad: Pakistan Agricultural Research Council.Google Scholar
Aslam, M., Majid, A., Hobbs, P. R., Hashmi, N. I. & Byerlee, D. (1989). Wheat in the Rice-Wheat Cropping System of the Punjab: A Synthesis of On-Farm Research Results 1984–1988. PARC/CIMMYT Paper No. 89–3. Islamabad: Pakistan Agricultural Research Council.Google Scholar
Byerlee, D., Akhtar, M. R. & Hobbs, P. (1987). Reconciling conflicts in sequential double cropping patterns through plant breeding: the example of cotton and wheat in Pakistan's Punjab. Agricultural Systems 24: 291304.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byerlee, D. & Husain, T. (1992). Farming Systems of Pakistan: Diagnosing Priorities for Agricultural Research. Lahore: Vanguard.Google Scholar
Byerlee, D. & Iqbal, M. (1987). Recent trends and variability in prices of selected crop and livestock products in Pakistan. Pakistan journal of Agricultural Sciences 1:158168.Google Scholar
Byerlee, D., Iqbal, M. & Fischer, K. S. (1989). Quantifying and valuing the joint production of grain and fodder from maize fields: evidence from northern Pakistan. Experimental Agriculture 25:435445.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byerlee, D. & Siddiq, A. (1990). Sources of Growth in Wheat Yields in Pakistan's Punjab, 1965–2000: Is There a Sustainability Issue? CIMMYT Economics Working Paper No. 90/4. Mexico, DF: CIMMYT.Google Scholar
Byerlee, D. & Tripp, R. (1988). Strengthening linkages in agricultural research through a farming systems perspective: the role of social scientists. Experimental Agriculture 24:137151.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilbert, E. H., Norman, D. & Winch, F. E. (1980). Farming Systems Research: A Critical Appraisal. MSU Rural Development Paper No. 6. East Lansing: Michigan State University.Google Scholar
Hobbs, P., Razzaq, A., Hashmi, N. I., Munir, M. & Khan, B. R. (1985). The effect of mustard grown as a mixed intercrop on the yield of wheat. Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Research 6:241247.Google Scholar
Hobbs, P. (1985). Agronomic practices and problems for wheat following cotton and rice in Pakistan. In Wheats for More Tropical Environments: Proceedings of the International Symposium, 273277. Mexico, DF: CIMMYT.Google Scholar
Hobbs, P. R., Sheikh, A. D. & Azeem, M. (1992). Dynamics of technological change in rainfed systems: wheat in northern Punjab. In Farming Systems of Pakistan. Diagnosing Priorities for Agricultural Research (Eds Byerlee, D. and Husain, T.). Lahore: Vanguard Publishing.Google Scholar
Hussain, S. S. & Byerlee, D. (1991). Impacts of the Training and Visit Extension System on Farmers' Knowledge and Adoption of Technology: Evidence from Pakistan. Draft paper. Mexico, DF: CIMMYT.Google Scholar
Inayatullah, C., Haq, E. U., Mohsin, A. U., Rehman, A. & Hobbs, P. (1989). Management of Rice Stem Borers and the Feasibility of Adopting No-Tillage in Wheat. Islamabad: Entomological Research Laboratories, National Agricultural Research Centre, Pakistan Agricultural Research Council.Google Scholar
Maxwell, S. (1984). Farming Systems Research: Hitting a Moving Target. Discussion Paper No. 199. Sussex: Institute of Development Studies.Google Scholar
Sharif, M., Longmire, J., Shafique, M. & Ahmad, Z. (1992). System implications of varietal adoption: Basmati-385 in the rice-wheat zone of the Punjab. In Farming Systems of Pakistan. Diagnosing Priorities for Agricultural Research (Eds Byerlee, D. and Husain, T.). Lahore: Vanguard Publishing.Google Scholar
Sheikh, A. D., Azeem, M. & Byerlee, D. (1988). Factors affecting cropping intensity in barani areas of northern Punjab, Pakistan. Pakistan Journal of Agricultural Social Sciences 2(2):5372.Google Scholar
Sidhu, D. S. & Byerlee, D. (1991). Technical change and wheat productivity in post-Green Revolution Punjab. Economic and Political Weekly 26(52):A159–A166.Google Scholar
Simmonds, N. W. (1985). Farming Systems Research: A Review. Technical Paper No. 43. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar
Traxler, G. & Byerlee, D. (1992). Analysis of Varietal Adoption Decisions in the Presence of Joint Production. Draft paper. Mexico, DF: CIMMYT.Google Scholar
Tetlay, K., Byerlee, D. & Ahmad, Z. (1990). Role of tractors, tubewells and plant breeding in increasing cropping intensity in Pakistan's Punjab. Agricultural Economics 4:1325.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
World Bank (1987). The Aga Khan Rural Support Programme in Pakistan: An Interim Evaluation. A World Bank Operations Evaluation Study. Washington, DC: World Bank.Google Scholar