How can you align R&D projects with the needs of farmers and stakeholders?

In my opinion, chemistry has replaced biology in the production of food. Both have their place, but #nature is our best guide to what can work over the long term. Attention to natural cycles like water, carbon and nutrients gives us the information we need to move forward. Disruption of these will be catastrophic to our well being!

R&D function is not only to identify and solve existing problems but also to develop innovative products for the future requirements. Every R&D project should have clear defined objectives, budget and discovery of product cycle to commercial. Any project without aiming profits will lead nowhere. Product design, Plans if launch, market research, trials, customer feedback before final launch is important for success of any R&D function in an Organization.

Agri R&D projects objectives should be focused not only for the farmers but also for retailers, consumers, Traders, processors and Exporters. 1.Farmers: Earliness, quality,yield, disease resistance etc. 2. Retailers : Shlef life,Quality, cosmetics etc. 3.Consumers: Nutrients, taste,flavor etc. 4.Traders: Volume, Price, Quality. 5.Processors : Quality, volume, price, round the year availability. 6.Exporters :Quality, Flavour,Price ,Quantity and round the year availability.

Bottom up approach is a good way to identify the problem if your dealing with farmers. Farmers always want to be a part of solution process, It makes them feel confident to accept solution of their problems and project success.

The role of biophysics should receive more emphasis and the new fields of photobiology and gravitolbiology offer new insights on plant growth. Credit to Albert Einstein for opening up a whole new world of scientific inquiry.

Log frames, Theory of change and impact pathways has to be aligned and follow the systems framework. This keeps the whole project within track. Otherwise it becomes too much of a quick fix type with no sustainability plan. SMART objectives have to be planned much earlier and well within the framework.

There might arise a number of objectives, usually they arise first, from a particular need, but in a first phase we must refine them and set achievable and logical objectives given the possibilities (legal framework, natural resources, capital and labour availability). Setting SMART goals should have in mind that we must be able to oversee and quantify their fullfilement, but also that they must be relevant for farmers, community and broader interests.

Solutions totally depend on the gap analysis and the target technologies /interventions that prove effective to have the most impact. A hypothesis need to be devised as what we are expecting to achieve and what are the assumptions we are making. For example "we assume that empowerment of women farmers in plant genetic resources result in more efficient conservation efforts". The hypothesis will be either agreeing to this assumption or nit agreeing. The solutions will thereafter work towards harnessing this result.

Great! Once we have our goal in mind the first thing is to see what has been done in the past. Don't waste time developing something that already has a good answer (unless you can make it considerably better) this is when you want also to look at what you can do on your one and where you can partner (with research facilities, other producers, your suppliers and your clients).

Having the right R&D trials strategy is important. One of the most important factors is choosing the appropriate end-points for the trials. These end-points may differ depending if the focus is on commercial aspects, regulatory data or product development. Errors in trials design will mean that they may have to be repeated, which can be costly. However, doing some additional measurements may cost very little but greatly improve the value of the trial.

Thorough evaluation of project outcomes a year or two after the project solutions have been implemented is rarely done but should be built into the project plan and properly resourced/funded. Way too often, project success is 'validated' on the basis of not very rigorous feedback. This can be both misleading and a poor investment of research funds.

Getting your plan moving is a step to be taken very carefully. Ensure that you are antecipating every risk to your RnD project and that you are taking care of minimizing them. Choose the apropriate approach to develop the trials and review the procedures necessary to get viable and consistent results. Depending on the subject (software, IT, machinery, product design, biotechnology) there are propper workflows and you might want to set them in place before starting.

This step is what used to be termed 'extension'. The place of extension has faded in recent years. This is folly - there is much research that has not been adopted through lack of good communication to the end users and stakeholders. Delivering conference papers is a good avenue but only a small part of adoption. It could be argued that, in Australian agriculture at least, we don't have a research problem, we have an extension problem.

To get an effective communication on R&D results, you have to clearly articulate the benefits and value that the R&D results bring to the growers or stakeholders. Focus on how it addresses their needs, solves problems, or Improves their current practices. I use to organize Demo platform, Field days or workshop in order to engage my audience directly with interactive exchanges. Share success stories or testimonials from others who have implemented similar findings. Tailored communication strategy to suit your audience with customized communication channels remain fundamental. For instance, simplify technical jargon for growers or stakeholders who may not have a scientific background and use online platforms/multimedia to reach more impact.

In particular sectors as agriculture, many times the search for a better way of doing gets an improved way for every player. However, in this pressing times we should aim for much more coollaboration - gathering knowledge and resources to resolve the problems ahead.