The Yakhouri farmers started the discussions talking about  their bad experience this year in pruning the olive trees which, unlike other years (according to them), may lead to 30-40% losses in olive production following the frost period. Looking at the healthy olive trees around the Idleb farms, the Yakhouri farmers seemed puzzled by the fact that the frost did not seem to have had the same effect in Idleb. 
        Here, Mr Zakaria of the Olive Bureau came in with some technical backstopping. Overpruning, and pruning at too early a stage, exposed the trees more to the frost which caused the damage. This is especially harmful when done before February, because there is still a chance of frost. "The Yakhouri farmers tend to overprune their olive trees. In future they should follow the example of their counterparts in Idleb, who practice proper pruning and at the right time  (late February/early March). That is how they protected their trees from the frost," he explained.
        The party then visited  the farm of Abou Ali, an Idlebi olive farmer, where the soil is very similar to that of Yakhour. The Yakhouri farmers raised many questions, most of  which revolved around proper cultural practices, including pruning, land preparation, and the use of fertilizers. Problems such as wilting and stem borer were also raised. Lively discussions were held between farmers and with the staff of the Olive Bureau. All the questions raised by the farmers were answered either by their fellow-farmers from

       We won't suggest these, though, at least not at the beginning. Such ideas  might turn out to be completely wrong. Even if they are not, we hope that they will emerge from the discussions so that the farmers feel their views are being properly reflected. And, at the end of the meeting, we can put together a research agenda.
        There will be two net results of this. First of all, the farmers will be more committed to the work than they would if it was done with a top-down approach. And second, we will have got on-farm soil conservation research underway with the wholehearted cooperation of the community--even though the farmers aren't immediately interested in soil conservation in itself.
        It is one thing for an international center like ICARDA to apply this approach on a local scale with the full cooperation of the national Ministry. It is quite another to get the technique of participatory research into natural-resources conservation to spread worldwide, so that it has some impact.
        Arguably, what prevents it is the fundamental divorce between national research and extension systems. The result is something like what happened in the Ethiopian project we mentioned at the beginning. Researchers devise solutions; extensionists take them to the field. The extensionists then find either that they can't transfer the technology, because it doesn't work in the real world; or, worse still, they do succeed, the measures prove inappropriate, and the researchers work on in blissful ignorance of the shambles being wrought on the ground by solutions that were worse than the problem.
       Why don't research and extension divisions work together more? The reasons vary from bureaucratic inertia to physical separation to a feeling by the scientific researchers that extension is a common profession, while the extensionist regards the scientist as a strange creature with his head in the clouds. The only answer may be to abolish the distinction.
        This has, in fact, been done in places. For example, Bhutan's authorities decided to tackle the problem and held consultations with ICARDA's sister Center, the International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), based in The Hague. The Ministry in the end decided to group all its activities, including research and extension, in one body called Renewable Natural Resources (RNR). Further measures under consideration include ending the physical separation of the two branches by grouping provincial representatives together under one roof.

Idleb or by the Olive Bureau officials. The day, it seemed, had gone well. We all sat down to lunch. Over the meal, the Yakhouri farmers told us that the visit had been useful. Yes, they did want to work with ICARDA.
        The next step is to set the research agenda. This won't be done in the office. We will hold a planning meeting with the Idlebi and Yakhouri farmers and the Olive Bureau, this time in Yakhour itself, perhaps in the schoolhouse. At this meeting we will analyse the problems they face there--pests, the odd biennial fall in yields, loss of soil cover, pruning problems--and then break them down into biophysical components--the plants themselves and their husbandry, the nature of the terrain and soil, and the rainfall. There are a number of areas that may emerge as worth considering. We suspect, for example, that pests can be dealt with partly by improved pruning practices, and that application of sheep manure, compound or foliar spray will combat the yield fluctuations.
        And the soil will be in our minds. We suspect that tillage will need looking at--should they be plowing along the contours instead of down them? But can they do this with a tractor, on a steep slope? If they have to use mules instead, will it be economic? Should tillage be done only after the rains?

        This may be a model for other national research systems in the future. But the key will always lie with people. We repeat: when dealing with farmers, it is our job to convince them. After all, if natural-resource conservation fails, it is the farmer, not the scientist, who will be the first to suffer.

Dr Michael Zöbisch is Soil Conservation and Land Management Specialist in ICARDA's Farm Resources Management Program (FRMP). Mike Robbins is Science Writer/Editor, ICARDA, and editor of Caravan. Jouhayna Issa Ramadan is ICARDA's Arabic Information Specialist.