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Priority Setting in Agricultural Research

by Aasha Mehreen Amin
TERMS like "research priority setting", "strategic planning", and "human resource planning" may be just words out of a management and policy textbook to the average person, but they are vital Issues for agricultural research. Effective research is continuously being planned and Implemented within the NARS. but scarce resources demand that priorities be set Decisions have to be made on how to allocate resources to important commodity and non-commod-ity research, as well as problem areas within them. Additionally, efficient manpower must be developed In the most important disciplines so that the research projects can be carried out effectively.
The International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR) was invited by the BARC to assist In analysing agricultural research priorities In Bangladesh and in the process, develop methodologies that could be utilized by the NARS In future planning exercises. A combination of methods called "scoring" and "economic surplus" analyses were used In the study. The latter method is basically a cost-benefit analysis in which the net present value of economic benefits from research are projected for each com-
modity. The scoring method identifies multiple objectives, putting weights on them and determining the criteria for ranking commodities and research problem areas within each commodity examined.
Five main objectives for use In the scoring method were identified to which importance was attached i.e.. I) increase of agricultural productivity and efficiency to produce more food, foreign exchange
A two day workshop on agricultural research priority setting was held from May 19th to 20th at the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC). The Executive Vice Chairman of the BARC, Dr M SU Chowdhury, was instrumental to planning for and implementing this workshop which is essential to a larger scheme to develop a self sustaining mechanism for research planning and management with the National Agricultural Research System (NARS). Information presented during the workshop was a culmination of detailed studies carried out during 1989-90, and updated in May this year.
and Income; 11) provide employment; 111) increase the sustainability of benefits for future generations; Iv) improve nutrition giving emphasis on the lowest income groups; and v) reduce variation in the production and Income.
A vital part of the study was to get feed-back from people
who benefited or were subject of the research. More than three hundred people were interviewed from different parts of the country to obtain their opinions on the relative importance of 57 different commodities, including crops, livestock, fisheries and forestry. Following this approach Dr Norton. International Service for National Agricultural Research (ISNAR), and Dr Modon Mohan Dey,
Bangladesh Agriculture Research Council (BARC). now deputed to 1RRI. were able to identify a wide variety of programmes critical to overcoming constraints and set priorities on those commodities and programme areas within each commodity.
According to the Priority
Setting Study, some of the highest ranking commodities were T aman. freshwater fish, boro, T aus. poultry and duck, Jute, wheat, potato, sheep and goats and B aman. Important research programme areas within crops generally included breeding and genetics, plant production practices, soil science and pest management.
For livestock, the highest priorities tended to be animal nutrition, health, and management. Fisheries man agement. health, and socioeconomic conditions ranked high, and forestry management. natural resource assessment and post-harvest technologies were high priority programme areas.
The workshop, which was attended by research managers within the NARS, also provide an opportunity for participants to learn the scoring method through practical exercises in which all had to work through the steps of priority setting, and make recommendations based on their findings. It Is through workshops of this type that Important new techniques can be transferred to scientists within the NARS. thus enabling them to improve the effectiveness of agricultural research in Bangladesh.