Publication Date
1989
Description
Grasslands are but one subsystem of farming systems, the purpose(s) and measures of performance of which are predominantly social and economic (Pearson and Ison, 1987). The adoption of a systems view of the role of grasslands in farming systems necessitates a review of the way in which grassland problems for research are identified. This paper describes the use and evaluation of rapid rural appraisal (RRA), a problem identification methodology, for identification of agronomic problems for research in the Forbes Shire, New South Wales, Australia. RRA methodologies have evolved from work in lesser developed countries (LDC's) but there are indications that many factors that have led to changes in the identification of problems for research in LDC's (Table 1) also apply in Australia and other western developed nations. RRA is defined (Conway, McCracken and Pretty, 1987) as: - « A systematic but semi-structured activity carried out in the field by a multidisciplinary team and designed to acquire quickly new information on, and new hypotheses about rural life». The rationale for, and features of, RRA are described in Table 1.
Citation
Ampt, P R. and Ison, R L., "Rapid Rural Appraisal for the Identification of Grassland Research Problems" (2025). IGC Proceedings (1989-2023). 1.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/1989/session11/1
Included in
Agricultural Science Commons, Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Plant Biology Commons, Plant Pathology Commons, Soil Science Commons, Weed Science Commons
Rapid Rural Appraisal for the Identification of Grassland Research Problems
Grasslands are but one subsystem of farming systems, the purpose(s) and measures of performance of which are predominantly social and economic (Pearson and Ison, 1987). The adoption of a systems view of the role of grasslands in farming systems necessitates a review of the way in which grassland problems for research are identified. This paper describes the use and evaluation of rapid rural appraisal (RRA), a problem identification methodology, for identification of agronomic problems for research in the Forbes Shire, New South Wales, Australia. RRA methodologies have evolved from work in lesser developed countries (LDC's) but there are indications that many factors that have led to changes in the identification of problems for research in LDC's (Table 1) also apply in Australia and other western developed nations. RRA is defined (Conway, McCracken and Pretty, 1987) as: - « A systematic but semi-structured activity carried out in the field by a multidisciplinary team and designed to acquire quickly new information on, and new hypotheses about rural life». The rationale for, and features of, RRA are described in Table 1.
