SPECIAL PROGRAMME FOR FOOD SECURITY

Intensification of Crop Production Systems

Under the SPFS component, Intensification of Crop Production Systems, farmer-led demonstrations are used as an entry point to identify and introduce better farming and management practices, identify the problems that hamper their adoption and develop solutions to overcome them. Sustainable intensification of crop production systems and improvement in rural incomes are promoted through: (i) introduction of improved seed varieties; (ii) introduction of drought-resistant or short-season varieties; (iii) better farming practices such as use of draught animals for ploughing; (iv) training in the use of integrated pest management and integrated plant nutrition techniques; (v) introduction of appropriate post-harvest handling, storage and processing technologies; (vi) support for functional marketing and credit schemes; and (vii) improvement in support service delivery systems.

The farm demonstrations provide an opportunity to develop participatory processes for assessing different technology options, to enhance farmer choice and innovation, to organize farmers and their relationships with partners such as researchers and extensionists. Due to the nature of the SPFS, farm demonstration results should be educational and credible. Hence, under SPFS Phase I, farm demonstrations are not field trials. They are farm demonstrations of locally available sets of packages of practices and technologies with three functions: (i) educational function (common and traditional function of demonstrations in extension); (ii) source of data for constraints analysis; and (iii) source of information/data for decision on marketing and planning for Phase II.

In both planning and implementing the on-farm demonstrations, farmers' participation is essential. At the outset, the Programme managers, along with the local SPFS team, field extension agents and farmer leaders should determine the basic information required in planning and implementing the on-farm demonstration programme, namely: (i) the technologies to be demonstrated; (ii) the farmers for whom the demonstrations are being targeted; (iii) the objectives of the on-farm demonstrations; (iv) the data to be collected. After discussing the basic considerations, it is useful to specify the common objective of on-farm demonstrations within the framework of SPFS e.g. to demonstrate the performance of a selected and recommended set of technologies. In this regard, performance implies not only increased productivity and production. It would also include reduced output variability (i.e. yield stability for crops), reduced growing period, or resistance to a particular pest or disease to show economic return, including more efficient use of economic inputs.

Plans to expand production can often be unsuccessful in the long term because insufficient attention is paid to marketing issues. This applies both to the marketing of the agricultural produce which results from planned production support activities and to the marketing of the inputs which are necessary to boost production successfully. Small-scale farm production operations are not attractive to private sector firms and banks that provide inputs, marketing and financial services. The challenge to SPFS officials and participants is to constantly strive to make arrangements at local level that reduce costs of attending small clients, so as to attract service providers.

In areas that are either far from established markets or where production is small and scattered, attention should initially focus on meeting local market needs (those in the immediate area) rather than on those of more distant markets, which will need larger and more regular supplies of products than would normally be available at the start. Serving more distant markets will require better organized production and marketing. Transport and trader issues will need to be resolved from the outset. Remote areas should try to identify crop or other production opportunities with a high value-for-weight ratio so as to minimize transport cost. Governments must formulate policies that support development of the private sector (agricultural production, input supply, processing, marketing and financing), and thereby encourage greater investment in the agricultural sector, and increased production levels.

 

SEE NORMATIVE FRAMEWORK:

SEE PROJECT EXAMPLES:

 

SEE SPECIFIC COMMON ELEMENTS (Terms of references (TORs) relevant to SPFS crop intensification activities):

 

SEE GENERAL COMMON ELEMENTS APPLICABLE TO ALL SPFS PHASE I ACTIVITIES:

TORs - NATIONAL SPECIALISTS:

 

For complete information on SPFS project formulation and implementation see:

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