Research and development work by Costa Rican farmers: lesson for agro-foresters

It is important to start new agricultural research and development projects with studies of the existing farming systems. This paper suggests that it is also worth while to study the empirical research and extension techniques that farmers have used to develop their traditional systems, in order to provide guidelines on how to convince farmers that new-results are worth adopting. The stages in the empirical development of some agro-forestry techniques in Costa Rica (silvo-pastoral, living fence posts, shade trees over perennial crops, improved fallow slash and burn) are discussed in order to demonstrate the importance of seven research and development techniques used by farmers. These are: demonstration plots; adaptation of existing techniques; preference for multiple-use species; identification of desirable tree characteristics; directed succession; and observation of crop phenology as a silvicultural indicator