"AGSIEVE" by BOB HART on June 18, 1993 at 11:20. Note 53 (of 54)
by JESSICA LAUB on May 3, 1994 at 15:55 (5801 characters).
Bolivian Farmers Conduct Site Specific Field Trials Over the
past three years, 101 Quechua farmers in North Potosi, Bolivia
have conducted 295 site-specific field trials on 90 varieties in
a wide range of elevations for eight crops cultivated in the
Andean mountains. Their trials have generated data that have
been analyzed statistically and shared with scientists. Farmer
enthusiasm has fostered the pride and dignity of local people
and has encouraged these small farmers to train 2,850 other
farmers in how to identify and use the most appropriate
agricultural technologies. All of this occurs in a remote
geographic area that has never been served by government
agricultural research or extension In 1989, Julio Beingola, an
agronomist with the NGO World Neighbors, developed a simple
system to help farmers conduct their own field trials. How it
Works Farmer training began with four three-day