The role of the typology of agricultural production systems in farming systems research and extension

Trébuil Guy, Boonchoo P.. 1988. The role of the typology of agricultural production systems in farming systems research and extension. In : Thailand National Farming Systems Research Seminar. 5. Haad Yai : Prince of Songkla University, 23 p. Thailand National Farming Systems Research Seminar. 5, Kampaeng Saen, Thaïlande, 4 Avril 1988/7 Avril 1988.

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Autre titre : Le rôle de la typologie des systèmes de production agricole dans la recherche et la diffusion sur les systèmes d'exploitation agricole

Résumé : Very often farm diversity has been considered as an obstacle to the dissemination of technical innovations which were proposed. Like recipes, to all farmers in the area at the same time in a non-discriminent way. It is still a common statement to hear that only a limited number of usually better-off producers follow the recommendations. More frequently, the proposed explanations are either the low level of farmers' technical knowledge or the inefficiency of the extension service. Meanwhile, more and more, the appropriateness of the proposed "technical packages" is questioned. At the same time, the processes of regional specialization and socio-economic differentiation are making the farm diversity even more obvious every day. But it is now recognized that a single objective scientific classification cannot suit every purpose. In Farming Systems Research/Extension, we are most interested in the identification of the main limiting factors for each type of Agricultural Production System 3 in order to propose adapted resea1:cl1 or extension activities to remove them and, later, to be able to evaluate the efficiency of such development programs. As the practical value of a technical diagnosis depends on the precise context of the whole APS, it is necessary to take into consideration its global internal coherence. This can be achieved by studying farmers'technical decisions and choices through the confrontation between his objectives and the set of bio-physical as well as socio-economic constraints that he is facing. In other words, we try to understand the functioning of the APS, i.e. the logical sequence of strategic and tactical decisions made by the farmer to realize one or several objectives (family food consumption, family income, living standard, farm continuity). In a given area, .APS having similar objectives, strategies and limiting factors are grouped into a single type. Key indicators for each type of APS are then selected in order to be able to assign rapidly any particular APS to one class of the typology with a good probability. The size of each group of farmers is assessed as well as the relative importance of their specific problems at the regional level. In an another step, the study of the possible sequence of changes for each main type of APS is carried out. Sub-types are identified and distributed along a trajectory of evolution of a given type of APS. The usefulness of such typology of trajectories of evolution of the APS for monito-ring the regional agricultural situation is demonstrated by an example from southern Thailand. The role of this classification of APS in the preparation and evaluation of adapted agricultural development programs is shown. And the use of the functional typology of APS as a rational basis for the elaboration of appropriate agricultural tecl1nical references is underlined.

Mots-clés Agrovoc : projet de développement, classification, village, technologie appropriée, Oryza sativa, production

Mots-clés géographiques Agrovoc : Thaïlande

Classification Agris : E14 - Économie et politique du développement

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