1. Many of the impacts of research with a sustainability perspective are measurable not
at the farmer's field level but at the higher regional level. For the technologies to take
effect at this level, they must be deployed sufficiently widely by a large number of
farmers. Thus new technologies resulting from research must be brought to scale
before they can deliver the objectives at the regional level.
2. The sustainability perspective requires frequent interactions and feedback between
simulation modeling (improving process knowledge) and empirical field experiments
New multidisciplinary research teams, designs and skills will need to be developed to
ensure effective interaction between modeling and field research.
3. Unlike commodity research, whose main clients are individual farmers, the new
research counts among its clients: farmers, groups of farmers, and policy makers.
Organizational linkages will need to be built for interaction between the stakeholders
at all these levels.