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Purpose: To describe the results of showing farmer learning videos through different types of volunteers. Design/Methodology/Approach: Semi-structured interviews with volunteers from different occupational groups in Bangladesh, and a phone survey with 227 respondents. Findings: Each occupational group acted differently. Shop keepers, tillage service providers, agricultural input and machine dealers reached fairly small audiences. Tea stall owners had large, male audiences. Non-governmental organisations and community-based organisations, reached more women. The cable TV (dish-line) operators showed the videos on local TV, but some were reluctant to do so again. The Union Information Service Centres showed the videos and reached women viewers. Half of the official government extension agents surveyed also showed the videos publically. Practical Implication: This video featured maize, wheat and rice seeding machinery. Because the machinery is complex and requires hands-on training, this first video aimed to expose tillage and sowing service providers and farmers to the machinery, without trying to teach them how to use it. But some farmers were so interested that they watched the video many times to learn more about the equipment. Before farmers and service providers decide to buy machinery for direct seeding, they still want to see and learn from demonstration plantings, to examine first-hand how the crop behaves when planted with the new equipment. Originality/Value: Video can be an effective way of sharing high-quality information with a large audience, if properly distributed.

Although recent studies show that agroecological innovations are effective techniques that ensure sustainable food production, their development and adoption are less well-known. This study aims to understand how agroecological innovation occurs in vegetable farming in Benin. Data were collected from 300 randomly selected households in three main vegetableproducing areas in Benin. Among agroecological vegetable innovations developed over the last 10 years, about 49% are outside innovations that farmers know of, 31% are outside innovations that farmers are not familiar with, and 22% are identified by farmers as local innovations. Innovations are better known in municipalities where farmers have more formal education, access to extension services, and access to credit. Farmers' priority innovations relate to integrated soil fertility, pest control, and water management. Promoting these practices would be an effective way towards achieving sustainable food security. Many farmers (82%) were not associated with the innovation process. Agroecological stakeholders need to go beyond traditional forms of top-down intervention and involve farmers in the innovation process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our objective was to research ways to introduce regenerative agriculture into the fragile landscape of the Southern Altiplano of Bolivia. The quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa) boom (2010–2014) had stimulated farmers to clear large areas of native vegetation: a climax community of shrubs, grasses and cacti. Most fields were soon abandoned, and native plants did not grow back spontaneously. Wind was rapidly eroding the sandy soils. Botanical exploration, informed by local knowledge, discovered species and ecotypes of wild plants, especially shrubs, legumes, grasses and cacti that could be grown as intercrops and as live barriers to control erosion. These plants were evaluated in farmers' fields, using participatory research. New varieties of quinoa were developed by conventional plant breeding. Researchers learned to grow wild shrubs and grasses in live barriers, to control soil erosion. Wild, native lupines were cultivated for the first time, to use as cover crops. Native cacti were grown in nurseries to encourage farmers to plant them near fields. The new quinoa varieties were better adapted to the local environment. We conclude that this innovative, broad-spectrum research agenda is a kind of plant breeding at the level of the whole landscape. These multiple lines of research are important for developing a diverse, integrated, regenerative agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are limitations to scientists' enlistment of the co-operation of farmers while classifying organisms since rural folks classify organisms according to their observability and importance. When the creatures are not easily seen or are insignificant, the farmers become vague about them. Folk knowledge can be classified into a few categories based on the observability and the significance of the organisms.

This debate between an anthropologist is a frank, detailed account of an integrated pest management (IPM) research and extension project for subsistence maize and bean farmers in Honduras. Dialectic tension runs through questions of the style of technology generation through on-farm research, the value of farmer experimentation and indigenous technical knowlege, farmer participation contributing to greater pesticide use, and the worth of media in extension. The authors argue some of the ethical, pragmatic and scientific issues of human experiments in agricultural extension. Key words: pest management, technology, on-farm research, argicultural extension, Honduras

The recent shift towards agricultural innovation systems recognises that agricultural development is complex and must involve multiple actors. This makes innovation through a project framework inherently challenging. This article draws lessons from a project that fostered post-harvest innovations in Uganda. First, a two-stage design allowed scoping out business cases with partners to identify potential innovations. Second, stakeholders used the Participatory Market Chain Approach (PMCA) to flexibly develop the innovations. Third, flexible funding made it possible to seize new opportunities along the way. Fourth, the project was attentive to surprises in implementation and encouraged reflection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has the largest area of rainfed dryland agriculture globally, with a variety of distinct types of farming systems producing most of its coarse cereals, food legumes, minor millets, and large amounts of livestock. All these are vital for national and regional food and nutritional security. Yet, the rainfed drylands have been relatively neglected in mainstream agricultural and rural development policy. As a result, significant social-ecological challenges overlap in these landscapes: endemic poverty, malnutrition and land degradation. Sustainable intensification of dryland agriculture is essential for helping to address these challenges, particularly in the context of accelerating climate change. In this paper, we present 100 questions that point to the most important knowledge gaps and research priorities. If addressed, these would facilitate and inform sustainable intensification in Indian rainfed drylands, leading to improved agricultural production and enhanced ecosystem services. The horizon scanning method used to produce these questions brought together experts and practitioners involved in a broad range of disciplines and sectors. This exercise resulted in a consolidated set of questions covering the agricultural drylands, organized into 13 themes. Together, these represent a collective programme for new cross- and multi-disciplinary research on sustainable intensification in the Indian rainfed drylands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]