Science and Technology Mailing List Archive

["Dick Tinsley" <<address removed>>]

While continuing on extension the other reason I see limited need for it is
the messages normally extended.

As I think I touched on before  extension messages by their very nature tend
to be idealistic with a close fit to the physical environment and emphasis
the maximum yield physical potential will also and not necessarily the
economic optimal yield. They thus tend to project a very limited opportunity
time, mostly early in the season.  This would be perhaps 2 to 3 weeks at the
most.  They do not take into account the up to 8 week spread in crop
establishment that renders the recommendations unusable.

Also, how often are extension program more a tool of the government in
trying to assure adequate food supplies particularly for the urban
population then a means of enhancing farmer well being?  This is often
backed by ceiling price policy which substantially erodes farmers' price and
with that the economic optimal level of inputs, etc.  As the delay in crop
establishment reduces the potential yield, the recommendations based on
maximum yield become progressively uneconomical.  Again the result is
farmers rejecting the extension message even when well known.  More
realistic estimates of farmers' yields that factor in the delays in planting
and other compromises would be 50% of potential yields.

Also, as the farmers know how long it will take to get their crops establish
they optimize their total returns by compromising quality for extent.  This
would be most noticeable in plant populations of row and hill crops such as
maize and transplanted rice.  In this case with the same time and effort
against a declining yield potential the farmer is better off doing one
hectare at half  the recommended rate then half a hectare at recommended
rate.  According to the typical sigmoid production function this is really
good economics.

Again it is important to recognize that smallholders may be poor and perhaps
with limited education but they are experienced skilled practitioners of
crop husbandry and can quickly adjust to changing conditions and
opportunities and fine tune their management to accommodate the limited
resources available to them extension services or no extension service.

Dick Tinsley

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