Knowledge, science, and practice in ecological weed management: farmer–extensionist–scientist interactions - Ecological Management of Agricultural Weeds - page 105

and public institutions. Other important sectors include policy makers, regu-
lators, consumers, and environmentalists (Campbell, 1994).
People in each knowledge community have interests in weeds for their own
reasons and have their own implicit standards for what constitutes knowl-
edge (Table 3.1). First, each community has accepted methods for generating
or defining what counts as knowledge. For example, farmers value what they
or their neighbors have tried more than what has been shown on a distant
experiment station. Second, each community has accepted procedures for
communicating knowledge. Researchers, for example, give more credence to
articles on replicated experiments with significant statistics than to verbal
descriptions of weed problems. Third, the spatial scale and time period for
knowledge formulation and application varies among knowledge commu-
nities. Figure 3.1 illustrates the separation in time and scale of themes of
interest to researchers and farmers. Scientists are interested in principles, rec-
ommendations, or products for wide application. Farmers need weed knowl-
edge for local and particular use.
Each of the three knowledge communities can be typified by how they
handle the uncertainty that characterizes crop production (Table 3.1).
Researchers use formal analysis and replication under controlled conditions,
usually in the laboratory or in small plots (Figure 3.1). They block, average,
and eliminate outliers and failed experiments, working on a time-scale
defined by administrative procedures such as tenure reviews,thesis deadlines,
and grant evaluations. Extensionists work more locally than scientists and
closer to crop production time. They build their weed extension programs
from research results, practical publications, on-farm trials, and contacts with
farmers. To take into account local conditions, extensionists develop more
specific recommendations than researchers. During abnormal crop cycles,
they respond with troubleshooting and special updates for their clients.
Farmers are time and location specific in their application of weed knowledge
to a single field in a given year within the context of the whole farm and pos-
sible off-farm activities. They make decisions about weed management based
on partial and uncertain data. When they plan the crop cycle, they use accu-
mulated experience and specific past information about the field, but cannot
be sure what the new crop cycle will bring. Once the crop cycle begins, they
modify their decisions based on weather, input availability and prices, and
expected crop value. As a result, farmer methods for handling uncertainty
include best-bet practices, contingency planning, adaptive response, and loss-
cutting.
Although farmers,extensionists,and researchers can easily be distinguished