Research and development (R & D) in pest management does not always lead to practical improvements. Where this is the case, the problem generally falls within two categories:
Research failure: R & D is aimed at the wrong questions or at developing inappropriate practices. In other words, there is a fault with R & D design.
Implementation failure: Despite R & D being well targeted, the results are not getting through to be implemented by pest managers and their advisors; there is a problem of delivery.
This idea of first understanding the problem is by no means new. A number of similar approaches have been proposed for a more problem oriented approach to other cases of natural resource management – for example - in Business management (Cyert and March, 1963), Natural hazards research (Kates, 1970), Appropriate technology (Schumacher, 1973), Village studies (Norman, 1974), Agro-ecosystems analysis (Walker et al., 1978; Conway, 1985), Farming systems research (Byerlee et al., 1980), Farmer first (Chambers, Pacey, and Thrupp, 1989).
However, having the right idea is one thing, putting it into practice is more difficult. The aim in this series of presentations is to show how a range of thinking tools can help to implement this approach and to help avoid the two problems mentioned above - poor research design and poor delivery of research results to practical problems.
Part of the problem is that pest problems are complex: they are shaped as much by political, social, and economic forces, as by climate, agronomy, technology, and various ecological processes. To fully appreciate and diagnose pest problems and make appropriate recommendations, all these factors need to be taken into account. This relates to the next Key Concept.