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My name is Peter Stradiot, a private crop consultant in vegetable growing in greenhouses. The regions I advise are mainly in the Mediterranean area and hot climate regions -worldwide. I am also expert in the EU for research evaluation in horticulture. In the need to know more and faster we created also a network of more than 20 independent consultants worldwide.
Thanks for your valuable information.
I only want to tell two experiences from the field.
Did you know that it took more than 30 years to get the idea accepted by the greenhouse growers in NW Europe that CO2 is a highly needed input to come to higher productions? Is this due to miscommunication of research or are the growers reluctant to believe that a product they don't see or smell has a benefit? It is for sure more complex. The impact of research became clear when the message was translated by consultants to the growers, when salesmen earned money to sell CO2 machines, when the first believers could not hide anymore their higher production, when the buyers of the vegetables where impressed by a nice looking and strong fruit that has a longer shelf live.
Visible impact of research in a region takes years and a mix of regional demonstration, personal communication and money creation. How to measure the impact of research within 3 or 5 years? I do this by asking questions and listen. If they can tell the research story themselves then they know the impact. Knowledge is deferred money.
The second experience was last year in Cameroon, the city of Bamenda. I met by luck a man who impressed me on the way he put in practice the research done on fertilization by combining crops (leguminosae) but also to use the manure and to limit the run off etc. It was visible in his local region. He is now active in influencing the villagers and owners to make woodland, 12 meter along the river borders to prevent run off. Is he a researcher, a consultant , a governmental official, a teacher? No. He has a normal job, but he was trained by a swiss NGO for some years on impact by communication. So he spent years talking. Even the local king saluted him when passing in his car. The effect of that one person IS visible!
What is the lesson I learned: do research on the different levels: fundamental and applied, publish but do not forget that the R&D outcomes must be translated and explained by men and women to the local situation, and this takes years. The success of research is in my opinion expressed, on the short term, in the number of times the subject is discussed or mentioned. On the long term you have to do data mining in the old reports to see how it was before and compare it with today.
ir. Peter Stradiot
Wilselsesteenweg 35
3020 Herent
Belgium
tel.0032 475 621 254
www.innogreen.be
www.greenhousecropconsultants.org
e-mail: Peter (at) innogreen.be
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