Knowledge, science, and practice in ecological weed management: farmer–extensionist–scientist interactions - Ecological Management of Agricultural Weeds - page 121

farmer experiences in a community or region. This spectrum is especially
important for developing management strategies for weed patchiness and
uncertainty. Additionally, in group meetings farmers outnumber researchers
and extensionists, helping to promote a focus on field problems and practical
solutions and the use of uncomplicated language. Similarly, the participation
of several extension staff and more than one researcher, possibly from differ-
ent disciplines, serves to broaden the opinions and perspectives.
Farmers'decision-making as an organizing principle
Farmers facing a new planting season base their decisions on different
types of information: experience accumulated from previous seasons, their
neighbors' experiences, specific data about each of their fields, expectations
about prices, resources, and weather, and technical recommendations from
public extension and commercial promotion (see Table 3.1). This informa-
tion, together with each farmer's goals, provides the basis for a tentative plan.
This is often a minor variation on a routine developed over time in response to
the local conditions (Aubry, Papy & Papillon, 1998). As the expected planting
period nears, farmers modify their decisions based on additional observations
and information about the season and the status of other fields. Once the field
is planted, crop management plans are adjusted. As the season unfolds,
farmers modify their expectations and decisions frequently. This routine of
iterative decision-making with uncertain and incomplete information is dic-
tated by a seasonal schedule.
A group of farmers, extensionists, and researchers meeting regularly to
analyze and improve farmer weed management should logically follow a
routine that parallels the seasonal schedule of decision-making based on crop
phenology (Figure 3.4).This sequence can be adapted to commercial vegetable
growing, cash grain production, perennial crops, or management-intensive
grazing. At each meeting, the group discusses what information is available
for decision-making, how it was generated, what information farmers use to
make decisions, what options they are considering, what information they
would like to have, and how they will determine whether they have made
good decisions. Generally a good decision is one that made the best use of the
available information rather than one that simply produced fortunate out-
comes. This approach has been used with tens of thousands of Indonesian
farmers to improve integrated pest management in rice (Roling & van der
Fliert, 1994), and has been likened to the case study approach used in many
business schools for management education (Useem, Setti & Pincus, 1992).