Diversity of fields and farmers explaining yield variations in northern Cameroon
This research was inspired by the inability of agricultural research to deal adequately with phenomena of variation, diversity and heterogeneity in agriculture. Although these phenomena were observed as long ago as the beginning of this century, they are still causing concern. Until recently, analysis of variance was applied to any form of undesired variation in the experimental results. The statistical elimination of variation from the research coincided with attempts to uniformise agriculture in order to optimise production. For a long time, deviations from the standardised average were regarded as undesirable random effects. Recent research has shown that variations in yield are very common in agroecosystems. They may be large, especially under difficult climatic conditions, and may even be considered as an asset to farmers. There is evidence that variations are not random, but are the result of systematic interaction between environment, crop genotype and management. This agrodiversity has important relations with the higher-level heterogeneity of the environment and diversity of farm households. At present, no comprehensive approach to its analysis is available, largely because agrodiversity is basically multidimensional in nature and may comprise several levels of aggregation.
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| Format: | Texto biblioteca |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
The Netherlands Wageningen Agricultural University
1995
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| Subjects: | Agricultura, Agricultores, Desarrollo rural, Agroecosistemas, Granjas, Gestión de recursos, |
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