Abstract
The BAIF Development Research Foundation initiated an agroforestry extension project in Pune District, India in 1984, following earlier on-station research on leuceana-based alley-cropping systems for fodder. In extension meetings, farmers expressed a strong preference for planting a wide range of multipurpose trees on farm bunds and borders rather than single-species alley-cropping. Researcher-managed trials of proposed multipurpose species grown with crops were initiated, but were of limited value. An alternative approach to research was begun in 1988. This approach included a survey of agroforestry practices established by farmers through extension, and collection of data on crop yields by distance from the tree line from a sample of these plots. Research methods are described and modifications suggested for improving the quality of this type of extension-based research.
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Hedge, N.G. On-farm agroforestry research in extension programmes: methods used by BAIF in India. Agroforest Syst 15, 203–216 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00120188
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00120188