USING SYSTEMS-ENGINEERING AND REDUCTIONIST APPROACHES TO DESIGN INTEGRATED FARM-MANAGEMENT RESEARCH PROGRAMS

Systems research is needed to more effectively use information generat ed through reductionist approaches. One example is the need to develop integrated farm management systems that can be envisioned as a collec tion of agricultural management strategies that incorporate concerns o f farmers, farm suppliers, environmentalists, the local community, con sumers, and the general public. Our objective was to use systems engin eering methods to design an integrated farm management systems researc h program that could ultimately develop integrated farm management pla ns. Systematic steps included: (i) defining the problem, (ii) identify ing all factors potentially affected by any solution, (iii) developing concepts for solving the problem, and (iv) evaluating four feasible c oncepts by quantifying tradeoffs associated with each solution. Four a pproaches for designing an integrated farm management systems research program were developed and evaluated. They were establishment of ad h oc panels, awarding of grants, use of the existing Agricultural Resear ch Service management structure, and writing of specific research cont racts. The systems engineering process suggested that use of contracts would provide the best performance and that using ad hoc panels would be less desirable, primarily because they lacked financial incentives for the scientists and provided minimal control over actual research efforts. Because of minimal cost associated with initiating and operat ing ad hoc panels, however, the anticipated return per dollar invested was higher for that approach than for the three other concepts. In ad dition to designing an integrated farm management systems research pro gram, this project also demonstrated how systems engineering can be us ed for planning complex agricultural research projects.