SYNOPSIS OF 1983 EXTERNAL REVIEW
During 1983, an external review team consisting of Drs. J.K. McDermott, Roberta van Haeften, Robert Waugh, and Dale Harpstead examined the North Florida Project. Their report consisted of two major sections, "findings" and 'recommendations." .
This team found that a significant strength of the project has been its ability to focus upon critical issues and design research and educational/field demonstrational activities accordingly. The project has established community linkages and aggressively moved technology onto farms for testing and demonstration, while simultaneously addressing multiple factors in the farmers' production equation. .There are other programs in IFAS and the State which could collaborate with FSR/E, such as the Florida A and M 1890s Project, integrated pest management, minimum tillage work, etc.
It appeared to this team that the extension branch has developed considerably more interest in FS-R/E than has-he research counterpart, but the agricultural research center network could serve as a means for the expansion of a farming systems effort. Also, the predominant number of faculty in IFAS associate farming systems with limited resource farmers rather than FSR/E in its broader context, a situation which needs correction.
The team recommended that FSR/E should be continued at IFAS, enlisting increased participation of core, discipline oriented IFAS faculty. FSR/E needs legitimization and an institutional "home." This means establishment of IFAS policy for FSR/E and an appropriate reward structure. Joint extension/research planning might be promoted at regional agricultural research centers. A central administrative structure could be established within a high level unit, such as the Center for Rural Development. Other possibilities include individuals with joint research/extension appointments who coordinate these activities on farm. An expansion strategy for the project is needed.
.Data Control
Figure 6 models the processes by which farming systems
projects organize, collect, interpret and utilize data. The figure indicates how the data should be integratively incorporated into the development of work plans, budgets, and annual reviews. A centralized file ideally is employed into which all data are entered. Note that in a project having regionally-based farming systems teams, a data (work) file should be kept in the region. The development of computer data management systems makes this kind of data processing both feasible and efficient.