Pest-management technologies for peasants: a farming systems approach

The development of crop-management technologies for peasant agriculture must fit the socio-economic and ecological features of small farming systems. Only through research that is multidisciplinary and agroecologically orientated, is it possible to understand fully the agro-socioeconomic circumstances that determine the management criteria and levels of resource use by small farmers. Results from these agroecological studies, coupled with the farmers' practical knowledge, can serve as a starting point to develop pest-control technologies which are adapted to the farmers' resource base and local conditions. Throughout the process, technology generation must start and end in the farmers' fields.