The Technical Advisory Committe of department chai--men reviewed the Sondeo and budget during the fall of 1981, providing input to the farming systems team and Administrative Coordinating Committee of the project.
The team began to distribute *Update" reports on its
activities to IFAS faculty shortly after research commenced. The first on-farm trials involved winter wheat. The first meeting the team held with farmers concerned the outcome of the wheat trials, and was conducted during June, 1982. Also in this month, the First Annual In-House Review occurred, providing the opportunity for extension agents and researchers to critique the team's efforts. By the tall of the first full year of research, the first graduate student thesis projects done with the team were completed. The team presented reports of its activities at the Florida Soils and Crop Sciences Annual Meetings in Tallahassee. Also in 1982, Florida became the lead institution in the Agency for International Development Farming Systems Support Project.
In January, 1983, Marilyn 9-ifthar of the FSR/E team was appointed a multi-county agent, strengthening the team's connection with extension. Figure 2 summarizes these developments.
During July, 1983, a Second Annual Review was held, this time involving an external review team which recommended continuance of the FSR/E Project and further expansion.
An evaluation design of the project was approved in June, 1984, and evaluation procedures are planned to be initiated during the summer of 1984.
THE NORTH FLORIDA FSR/E CLIENTELE
Orientation Towards Small Scale Farmers
Administrators within IFAS encouraged the North Florida FSR/E team to orient its activities towards smaller scale, limited resource farm households. This orientation inherently paralleled farming system projects in many developing nations. Interest in small scale farm problems expressed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (OICD) and the State of Florida also further directed program focus on small farm sector.
The team has found it difficult to arrive at an
economic-based definition of the clientele, such as is used by federal agencies to separate farm classes. Farm size, measured in acreage and/or sales, did not necessarily separate farms in a useful manner for the team. Relying upon economic definitions of *small farms excludes recognition of motivational and sociocultural factors and of inadequate technology available for smaller scale producers which influence observed agricultural practices by members of this class. Motivational, socioeconomic and technological factors associated with the FSR/E clientele are discussed below.
Prior to describing the clientele group, it is helpful to
identify those farmers with whom the team predominantly excludes