There are other approaches which have been successful in improving the linkage between research and extension. An example is the adaptive research and planning team (ARPT) concept, which is regionally based and area focused, and includes agronomists, agricultural economists and a research extension liaison officer. ARPT has been the primary mechanism of linkage between research and extension in Zambia (Kean and Singango, 1988). ARPT's involvement in extension activities includes farmer field days, production of monthly extension newsletters, in-service training of extension workers and farmers, and production of recommendation packages. Involvement of extension in ARPT activities has included participation in six-monthly programme planning and evaluation meetings, participation in formal and informal surveys, conducting on-farm trials and tests, and the revision and release of crop recommendations. This system has been effective in involving farmers, extension workers and researchers in a team effort to address the needs of small-scale farmers in the selected areas of the country.
Several organizations have successfully tried managerial approaches in improving the research-extension linkage. Hobbs and Dagg (1988) report that some organizations have adopted various strategies to encourage researchers to actively endorse client-oriented research. For example, in PATRONATO, located in northwest Mexico, researchers are evaluated by three criteria: adoption by farmers of their work; importance of the work (e.g., a threat of rust outbreak may make working on rust resistance an immediate priority), and creativity. Salaries of the researchers are based on this evaluation.
Some institutions have been encouraging informal interaction by promoting coffee or tea breaks. A research station in Tanzania is reported to have succeeded in initiating harmonious communication between research and extension staff through this approach.
It is important to have a central value for the organization. One has to only manage the beliefs, practices, and customs of the organization by managing the culture and value system. This approach has been successful in the Instituto Nacional de Technologia Agropecuria (INTA).
The Fundacion Servicio para el Agricultor (FUSAGRI) in Venezuela has been successful in its research work by requiring that all research staff also have an extension role in delivering their research to farmers.
Communication between researchers and extension workers is found to be better in developed countries and commodity-specific systems. More informal communications, extension input and joint research-extension trials are found in these type of situations (Seegers and Kaimowitz, 1989). Interaction between researchers and extension workers is high in the case of testing and introduction of new varieties and crop protection technology.
