Although the application of systems approaches in agricultural research and natural resource management is a rather new field, there is already increasing demand for implementation of these approaches. This will require a critical mass of specialists in national agricultural research systems and international agricultural research centers. While these institutions are setting themselves up for systems research, the experience that has been gained in this area needs to be evaluated, further possibilities need to be explored, and new objectives and targets need to be set. This book contains the papers of a three-day seminar on systems approaches and modelling for agricultural development. The seminar, which was held at ISNAR and co-organized by ICASA, was attended by participants from 12 national agricultural research systems, nine international agricultural research centers, and five advanced research organizations. In 24 chapters the book assesses the state of the art of systems approaches in agricultural research, resource management, and rural planning, and gives an impression of the evolution of this interdisciplinary field and its use.
Foreword.- Editorial.- In memoriam C.T. de Wit.- Sustainable growth in agricultural production: the links between production, resources, and research.- A case for setting common objectives for natural resource management.- Discussion on Section A.- Supporting agricultural research policy and priority decisions: an economic-ecologic systems approach.- The role of systems analysis as an instrument in policy making and resource management.- The development of strategies for improved agricultural systems and land-use management.- Discussion on Section B.- Needs and priorities of NARS for the management of natural resources: Bangladesh.- Bhutan’s research needs and priorities for the management of natural resources: a small country’s perspective.- The institutional and organizational implications of integrating natural resource management and production-oriented research.- Data requirements for agricultural systems research and applications.- Issues of development of an international soils and terrain database.- Discussion on Section C.- Multiple-goal planning as a tool to analyze sustainable agricultural production options in Mali.- Needs and priorities for the management of natural resources: a large country’s perspective.- The use of systems analysis methods—the experience at a national level (India.- Opportunities for use of systems approaches in agricultural research in developing countries—the Senegal experience in research systems.- The SANREM CRSP: a framework for integration of systems analysis methods in a sustainable agriculture and natural resource management research and development agenda.- Discussion on Section D.- Requirements for systems research in agricultural and environmental sciences.- Discussion on Section E.- Systems research methods andapproaches at CIAT—current and planned involvement.- Systems approaches for crop improvement and natural resource management research in CIMMYT: past and future.- CIP’ s experiences in the use of systems analysis and simulation.- Experience of the use of systems analysis in ICARDA.- Systems analysis for agroforestry research for development: the experience of and future use by ICRAF.- The use of systems analysis at international and program levels: IITA’s experience.- Capacity building and human resource development for applying systems analysis in rice research.- Systems research at WARDA.- Discussion on Section F.- Summary of recommendations.- Acronyms.
