Session guide: Managing a research institute with uncertain finances - Case study: Faro Arroya
Case study: Faro Arroya
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DATE |
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FORMAT |
Group discussion |
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TRAINER |
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OBJECTIVES | |
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At the end of this session, participants should be able to appreciate: | |
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1. Difficulties in managing a research organization which has the basic scientific infrastructure but no funds to conduct research. |
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2. Re-orientation of research priorities to utilize available resources. |
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INSTRUCTIONAL MATERIALS | |
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Exhibit 1 |
Organizational chart of ARI |
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Exhibit 2 |
Overall research programme by Division |
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Exhibit 3 |
Escalation of building costs |
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Exhibit 4 |
Development funds received |
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Exhibit 5 |
ARI research projects proposed for 1989 |
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REQUIRED REAPING | |
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Case study: Faro Arroya |
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BACKGROUND READING | |
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None. |
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SPECIAL EQUIPMENT AND AIDS | |
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Overhead projector and chalkboard |
The case covers several issues, but the most important is managing a government research institute where funds are a major constraint - so much so that they hardly suffice to pay for the salaries of the staff. The infrastructure for research, although existing or partially developed, is scarcely used for want of scientific supplies and logistic support. Reading Faro Arroya, one might conclude that all that the institute has is the staff and nothing else. On the surface, this may appear to be a reasonable conclusion, but it is not quite so. The institute had re-oriented its mission in the face of an adverse financial situation. The existing state of affairs prevented scientists from doing sophisticated research, so they re-oriented their research priorities toward solving the immediate problems of the farmers. This they could do rather successfully, or so they claimed.
With an improving economic situation, the institute could generate additional funds for various activities. This would strengthen scientific activities at the institute, but would there be a danger of the orientation also changing? Circumstances forced the Animal Research Institute (ARI) to conduct research which could be quickly diffused. Should the institute continue its present orientation, i.e., solving farmers' problems? How would it manage that?
In discussing this case, the resource person should emphasize that ARI is not the only institute of its kind to have suffered the consequences of deteriorating economic circumstances, although it represents an extreme case. Areas like Dongal, which predominantly depend upon export of primary commodities, are bound to go through phases of growth and recession. Availability of funds, particularly for research, is a major problem in all developing countries, although the severity may vary. Strategically, a research institute should create enough infrastructure during periods of growth so that externally sponsored research projects could be attracted to maintain the pace of the research activities at the institute. The leadership role of Faro Arroya, particularly the question why would one want to manage an institute like that with no tangible rewards in sight, is pertinent.
The important issues for discussion are:
(i) How does one really manage an institute like ARI?(ii) Can funds be generated outside of government support? If so, how?
(iii) What should be the mission of the institute?
(iv) Will the institute be able to maintain a judicious balance between sophisticated and farmer-oriented problem solving research? What strategies should be adopted to ensure this?
EXHIBIT 1
EXHIBIT 2
OVERALL RESEARCH PROGRAMME BY DIVISION
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Animal breeding and genetics · Selection and multiplication of local breeds · Upgrading local stock through cross-breeding · Effect of climatic stress and plane of nutrition on breeding performance of livestock · Breeding and maintenance of small mammals · Genetic improvement using improved strains of livestock and poultry for the production of poultry, milk and eggs · Dual-purpose breeding programme as a system of cattle development · Breeding poultry for high crude fibre diet tolerance for diets based on agro-industrial by-products |
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Animal nutrition and husbandry · Evaluation of agro-based industrial by-products (wheat bran, rice bran, spent brewers' grains, cocoa husk, straw, Leucaena glauca) as feed for farm animals to replace expensive, imported materials · Nutrient requirements of farm animals · Analysis of feedstuffs · Pasture development and evaluation, including: · Dry season feeding of livestock, including dry season pastures · Management of hatchery, breeding farms, feeding and breeding · Determination of the most productive legume-based natural pasture systems and sown pasture mixtures |
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Animal health and disease prevention · Sources of infections; trial of local material for culturing helminth eggs; screening of imported anthelminthic drugs and their proper use under local conditions; methods of controlling helminth infections; on-farm studies of proper usage in tick infestations |
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Farm management, economics and extension |
EXHIBIT 3
ESCALATION OF BUILDING COSTS
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(in dodes) | ||
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Administration building |
Laboratory block |
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Original estimate |
2362800 |
776708 |
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Already spent |
373172 |
605291 |
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Proportion of work remaining |
49% |
64% |
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Estimated additional funds needed |
11800000 |
44000000 |
EXHIBIT 4
DEVELOPMENT FUNDS RECEIVED
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1986 |
1987 |
1988 |
1989 |
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(in millions of dodes) |
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Construction of admin. building |
3.00 |
5.90 |
10.00 |
18.00 |
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Electrification of animal and poultry houses |
0.19 |
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Rehabilitation of animal house and cattle kraa |
0.30 |
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Research |
1.51 |
2.20 |
6.00 |
19.00 |
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For asbestos cement water pipes |
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4.79 |
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5.00 |
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Office equipment |
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2.00 |
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Farm office building |
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6.00 |
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Feedmill and feed barn building |
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9.00 |
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Furniture for admin. Building |
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10.00 |
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Laboratory building |
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15.00 |
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TOTAL |
5.00 |
12.89 |
18.00 |
82.00 |
Notes: No funds were received prior to 1986. Committed funds but not yet released. There was often considerable difference between funds committed and funds actually released.
EXHIBIT 5
ARI RESEARCH PROJECTS PROPOSED FOR 1989
· Livestock production systems· High-crude-fibre poultry diets
· Cocoa husks for broiler finishers
· Management and breeding systems in commercial cattle herds
· Stress resistance and productivity in ruminants
· Mass rearing of tsetse flies for release using the sterile insect technique
· Use of traditional medicines in control of helminth infection in farm animals
· Study of local methods of controlling mange in pigs
· Tick research - Investigation of plants for acaricidicity (tick toxicity)
· Cheaper, indigenous ingredients for various types of animal feed, replacing more expensive, imported raw materials. Pasture development for feeding imported cattle
· Evaluation of grasses for possible pasture development use
· Trials of grass-legume combinations with higher herbage yields than pure stands
· Cross-breeding to improve the locally bred A.F. Bosbeck strain to overcome problems in supply of day-old chicks and reduce imports and thus cut costs
· Control ticks, and develop protective regimes against heartwater disease
· Control and eradication of tsetse, which is the main transmitter of nagana, or animal trypanosomiasis
· Use of traditional medicines to combat diseases of farm
· Working out an appropriate male:female ratio in poultry to minimize costs
· Optimum number of times eggs should be picked up in a poultry farm so as to maintain good shell quality
· Maximum number of days eggs can be stored under ambient conditions with good ventilation and without adverse effects on hatchability
· Replacing - with locally manufactured wooden cages - the imported - and thus expensive - cages used for housing the poultry.
· Working out appropriate feeding regimes for poultry to minimize costs
Mr. Faro Arroya, Acting Director, Animal Research Institute (ARI), Dongal, was making an impassioned plea to the officials of the Finance Ministry, asking for the release of adequate funds for the fiscal year 1989-90. He concluded by observing that "on the whole, morale at the institute is very low owing to inadequate accommodation in old and congested buildings, empty laboratories, no equipment and no vehicles. Of course, we have a well trained scientific staff, which is committed. Through them the institute can play a very important role in the advancement of agriculture in the country, and all are ready to work towards this end. The institute needs financial and material support and it is our fervent hope that careful consideration will be given to our budgetary requests for funds and lift the researchers and the rest of the staff from the doldrums."
Arroya spoke slowly, in a low tone, forcefully emphasizing the potential role that the institute could play, given adequate support. He could discern some sympathy for his cause among the bureaucrats.
At the end of the meeting, certain assurances were given and some budgetary allocations agreed upon. Arroya knew that these were empty promises, with no intention of their being kept. There would be considerable divergence between funds agreed upon by the Ministry of Finance, funds earmarked in the national budget (to be published in a couple of months), and funds actually released. Many times in the past, funds earmarked for development works in the national budget were never received. Mr. Arroya had always hoped that things would change for the better in the not-too-distant future.
As Mr. Arroya was driving back to the institute, he muttered: "How does one manage an institute in such a situation?" He had been struggling all these years.
Later in the afternoon, Mr. Arroya was to meet a foreign visitor to the institute.
Organization of research
Research farms
Problems faced by ARI
Re-orientation of research
The meeting with the foreign visitor
What the institute needed
Some dilemmas
ARI had evolved over a period of a decade, through various organizations, beginning with a Tsetse Control Unit established in 1954 for research into bovine trypanosomiasis. In 1956, the unit was converted into a Biological Research Institute (BRI), with a mandate to carry out research into tsetse fly infestations and trypanosome infections in farm animals, and nematode infections in horticulture. In 1960, when the National Research Council (NRC) was formed, BRI became the Entomological and Parasitological Research Unit (EPRU) of the Council. It carried out the same functions as BRI, but with more emphasis on animal entomology and parasitology. After the Dongal Academy of Sciences was formed in 1963, EPRU became the Animal Research Institute, with a mandate to carry out research into all aspects of animal production.
By the courtesy of Alima School, a piece of land was leased to ARI for a research farm, and a student dormitory building was given for offices and some laboratory space. A few asbestos clad buildings which had been used by the former University College of Dongal were acquired for use as stores, laboratories and a veterinary clinic. Research farms were to be developed over time at Kanawaha, for research in the coastal Dongal area; Pokara, for the transitional Dongal forest area; and Nanryskino, for the northern Dongal area.
The institute had shared - with the other NRC institutes - some of the assets of the proposed National Institute of Health when plans for it were abandoned in 1960. This was how ARI acquired most of its laboratory equipment.
Based on experience concerning the type of research problems to be handled and available scientific staff, research work in the institute was organized in four divisions (See organizational chart opposite):
· Animal Nutrition and Husbandry, which took care of pasture production and evaluation, evaluation of animal feeds, and animal management.· Animal Breeding and Genetics, working with both ruminants and non-ruminants.
· Animal Health and Disease Prevention, which studied problems of viral, bacterial and other infective organisms.
· Farm Management, Economics and Extension, which did work in farmer education, farm animal statistics, and farm planning and management. The division also managed commercial projects, which generated supplementary funds for the institute.
There were 17 research staff at the institute, comprising 3 senior research officers, 11 research officers and 3 assistant research officers. One research officer and two assistant research officers were currently studying abroad.
Research programme
Research projects of the institute were selected after consultation with institutions and organizations whose activities related to animal production in the country. Such consultations usually took place in the annual symposium of animal scientists and farmers. ARI scientists presented their research findings in the symposium and identified new problems. In addition, the research staff themselves proposed new projects.
In each division, problems were studied in order of importance, with emphasis on the needs of livestock farmers and other users. Projects were reviewed periodically, and modified according to field conditions and changing user demands (Table 1).
Research results were disseminated through annual reports, a technical bulletin series, a farmers guidelines series, Dongal Animal Science Association Symposia, Dongal Science Association Symposia, direct communication between individual researchers and organizations like the Poultry and Pig Farmers' Associations, and science exhibitions.
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OVERALL RESEARCH PROGRAMME BY DIVISION |
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Animal breeding and genetics · Selection and multiplication of local breeds · Upgrading local stock through cross-breeding · Effect of climatic stress and plane of nutrition on breeding performance of livestock · Breeding and maintenance of small mammals · Genetic improvement using improved strains of livestock and poultry for the production of poultry, milk and eggs · Dual-purpose breeding programme as a system of cattle development · Breeding poultry for high crude fibre diet tolerance for diets based on agro-industrial by-products |
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Animal nutrition and husbandry · Evaluation of agro-based industrial by-products (wheat bran, rice bran, spent brewers' grains, cocoa husk, straw, Leucaena glauca) as feed for farm animals to replace expensive, imported materials · Nutrient requirements of farm animals · Analysis of feedstuffs · Pasture development and evaluation, including: · Dry season feeding of livestock, including dry season pastures · Management of hatchery, breeding farms, feeding and breeding · Determination of the most productive legume-based natural pasture systems and sown pasture mixtures |
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Animal health and disease prevention · Studies on sources of viral, bacterial, protozoan, helminth and arthropod infections · Sources of infections; trial of local material for culturing helminth eggs; screening of imported anthelminthic drugs and their proper use under local conditions; methods of controlling helminth infections; on-farm studies of proper usage in tick infestations |
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Farm management, economics and extension · Improving farm animal performance |
Lack of support
Even though the institute was wholly government supported, financial support to it came in dribs and drabs. Because of the continuing grave national economic situation, research was given a low priority. As a consequence, ARI faced difficulties right from its inception. Its activities had reduced substantially over time because of lack of financial support from government. Lack of accommodation was the most pressing problem. The institute had wanted to establish a collaborative relationship with a
Canadian university, but that was not possible because of a lack of proper accommodation for scientific laboratories. Collaborative arrangements with foreign institutions did not include funds for creating infrastructure; that had to be provided by the national government.
Supplies of laboratory chemicals were almost exhausted, with no prospects of new supplies. Laboratory equipment, acquired in the 1960s and 1970s, was now time worn and difficult to service. Frequent power blackouts and power instability had damaged most of the electrical appliances. Requests for budgetary allocations to import replacements had not been successful. This state of affairs had persisted to such an extent that there were no laboratory chemicals nor good equipment to work with. Perpetual shortages of one kind or another had a depressing effect on the research work at the institute. Once hailed in the international scene for its pioneering research work, the institute was now in the very embarrassing situation of not even being in a position to respond to inquiries regarding its research activities.
Its experimental farms had yet to be developed. Whatever little experimental work was possible on the as-yet-undeveloped experimental farms was difficult to monitor because of lack of transport facilities. It was always a problem reaching the experimental farms to tend the animals.
Accommodation
Lack of suitable accommodation had severely restricted research at the institute. Laboratory and office space continued to be inadequate. There was congestion and absolute lack of privacy. Water was not available in the laboratories and clinics.
Most of the stores, laboratories and the veterinary clinic were housed in the old asbestos-clad buildings of the former University College of Dongal. The cladding was breaking and termites had eaten the wooden portions. With virtually no funds, ARI was more or less a 'do-it-yourself organization. The institute seldom hired labour as it had competent personnel to do the various work required. Besides, it had no money to pay for hired labour. The school was demanding that all of its buildings be returned to it. The lease of the farm had been terminated in 1970, denying the institute the right of entry to the farm.
Kanawaha Station
Kanawaha Station was officially acquired in 1976, to be developed as the institute's permanent quarters and main research station. Located 35 km from Aura and 2 km off the Aura-Dodola road, near Forsund village, it covered an area of 457 ha.
There were plans for an administrative building, a laboratory block, animal house, feed stores, barns, staff quarters (both senior and junior) and other facilities conducive to the smooth running of a research institution. The construction of these buildings was stalled, while costs kept escalating (Table 2).
Table 2 Original estimates and current estimates for remaining work at Kanawaha Station (in dodes)
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ESCALATION OF BUILDING COSTS | ||
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Administration building |
Laboratory block |
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Original estimate |
2 362 800 |
776 708 |
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Already spent |
373172 |
605 291 |
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Proportion of work remaining |
49% |
64% |
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Estimated additional funds needed |
11 800 000 |
44 000 000 |
Construction of the administration building was started in 1976, but work was abandoned in 1980. The contractor could not pre-finance the project. This was during a period of economic depression in the country. Persistent requests to the government for funds to enable completion of the construction work met with no success until the institute offered to use its own artisans to complete the work. This induced the government to provide some funds in small lots for completing the work. Before that, all estimates for the construction work were shelved, with the excuse that there were no funds. The institute's artisans did plenty of corrective work, such as underpinning of the poorly laid foundations, and re-building walls. A small portion of the site was developed by ARI staff to accommodate animals. They also developed living quarters, and a temporary wooden farm office in 1974. A pig sty was built in 1976.
The Water and Sewerage and the Electricity Corporations had been approached to extend their services to the Kanawaha Research Station. Visits and reminders had yielded no results. Asbestos pipes which were purchased in 1975 for transporting water to the station, but had yet to be laid. Kanawaha is a dry area, and water for the animals often becomes a problem, especially during dry seasons. The tractors used to carry water for the workers and animals often broke down, and this meant that the animals often went without water.
Watchmen did their work in total darkness, in the absence of electricity, and were in constant fear of being attacked by thieves. Recently, thieves had raided the Kanawaha station and had stolen animals. In the process, one watchman was nearly killed. He received severe cutlass wounds and was in the Intensive Care Unit at Kaplan for three weeks before he was taken off the danger list. Although he had been discharged from hospital, he had not yet fully recovered.
The area cleared by the staff for animals was difficult to maintain with human labour. Tractors and slashers for keeping down weeds were very old and constantly breaking down.
A similar story could be told about the fate of the laboratory block, construction of which began in 1977. The work was abandoned in 1983 for want of funds.
Nanryskino Station
Nanryskino station, a 23.5 ha plot in the northern part of Dongal, with two offices, was acquired in 1964 for research on animals. Different kinds of grasses and legumes were cultivated to identify the best plants for ruminant nutrition. Lack of funds and facilities had substantially limited the research work.
Pokara Research Station
In 1966, a portion of the research station of the former Scientific Services Division at Pokara was acquired by ARI for work on animals in the savannah-forest transitional zone. The institute had a piece of land (14.6 ha) and two poultry houses, but no offices or laboratories. Research workers and technical officers had to travel to this station to do their work. Transport continued to be one of the major problems.
Since the late 1970s the institute had received very little funds for capital and development expenditure, including funds for research and development (Table 3). Funds received were just about sufficient for staff salaries. A government embargo on capital development expenditure - dating from 1983 - had brought research activities to a standstill. Even though the institute had a staff of 12 well-trained (most of them post-graduates) scientists, it was virtually impossible to carry out its research programmes. The institute had tried to generate funds on its own. It had procured farm animals - pigs, sheep, goats and cattle - basically for experimental purposes, and in the hope that the institute would be moving to its permanent quarters at Kanawaha. The animals were housed at the Alima Research Farm.
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DEVELOPMENT FUNDS RECEIVED | ||||
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1986 |
1987 |
1988 |
1989 |
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Construction of admin. Building |
3.00 |
5.90 |
10.00 |
18.00 |
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Electrification of animal and poultry houses |
0.19 |
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Rehabilitation of animal house and cattle kraa |
0.30 |
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Research |
1.51 |
2.20 |
6.00 |
19.00 |
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For asbestos cement water pipes |
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4.79 |
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5.00 |
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Office equipment |
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2.00 |
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Farm office building |
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6.00 |
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Feedmill and feed barn building |
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9.00 |
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Furniture for admin. building |
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10.00 |
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Laboratory building |
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15.00 |
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TOTAL |
5.00 |
12.89 |
18.00 |
82.00 |
Notes: No funds were received prior to 1986. Committed funds but not yet released. There was often considerable difference between funds committed and funds actually released.
These animals, as well as their products, were sold to the public and generated some revenue for ARI. Although the institute had been helping out the animal industry, lack of equipment prevented it from doing organized consulting work for the industry, which would have been a source of revenue. Since ARI did not have operational equipment, the scientists had to take the various raw materials requiring analysis to Dongal University at Lefors or the Dongal Standards Board, where better facilities existed.
Flight of the scientists
The early 1980s were a difficult period for the country, as well as for ARI. The country was passing through a period of extreme economic crisis. Research had no priority whatsoever and the research institutes were barely surviving. Research activities were at a standstill except in those institutes which had externally funded projects. Since ARI had no such project, it was starved of funds and other support services.
This unpleasant state of affairs had caused a good number of top class scientists to quit for greener pastures abroad. The full-time director, Mr. Zardori, left in the mid-1970s. Udaga Kozani then became the acting director, but he too left, in 1983. However, they had both of them tried to get buildings and laboratories constructed, and had left when they realized that they were unlikely to succeed in their efforts in the near future. Faro Arroya became the acting director in 1983, when the then acting director, Kozani, went on leave. Since then Arroya had been the acting director.
In the following years, eight more scientists left the institute. Those who stayed behind perhaps could not get better jobs or were committed to stay for whatever reason. They were all hoping that things would improve in the future and that funds would be available for research. After all, the institute's work had been highly regarded all over the Azarican continent. Regrettably, things actually got worse.
The institute presented a budget proposal to the Ministry of Finance every year. It contained a catalogue of what the institute required. Price quotations had to be attached to the proposal. In the initial years the potential suppliers provided these quotations with enthusiasm; subsequently reluctantly; and eventually did not even respond to enquiries. Obviously, the institute had not bought anything all these years even though it was seeking quotations year after year.
Because of lack of equipment and laboratory supplies, the scientists could not do sophisticated research, but they were not willing to sit idle either. Re-orienting their research activities, they conducted research on a modest scale: simple experiments, improvising as necessary, with the aim of solving farmer's problems.
The institute claimed a notable achievement in overcoming the problem of availability of day-old chicks for the poultry industry. Through a joint breeding programme with the University of Dongal at Lefors, the Institute produced a new strain of fowls - both broilers and layers - called AF Bosbeck. It was given the 'Invention of the Year Award' in 1985, and the Ministry of Agriculture even issued a white paper in appreciation of its effects on reduction of imports and cutting costs.
Under, an Association for Azarican Nations (AAN) project, the institute was carrying out studies to improve animal nutrition. The institute promoted use of locally available agro-industrial by-products and crop residues, and transferred the feeding techniques to the small-scale-farm level. Research in this area focused on use of cheap, indigenous ingredients (such as wheat and rice bran, brewers' spent grain, and cocoa husk) for different types of animal feeds, replacing more expensive, imported raw materials. ARI scientists suggested using seed meal from Leucaena glauca in reasonable proportions (up to a maximum of 75%) as a replacement for costly groundnut cake for broiler and layer birds. The other recommendation was that blood meal, which is an industrial waste, could be boiled, sun dried and ground for use up to 5 to 7% in starter and finisher diets. Shea nut cake - an industrial waste providing energy and some protein - was also being tried in animal feeds.
The animal health division had been experimenting with local herbs as medicines to replace expensive imported drugs, which were not always available.
In a symposium held a couple of years ago, the scientists had recommended that the yellow coloration of egg yolk could be enhanced by mixing leaves of certain plants (such as cassava and Madras corn) with the poultry feed. Since people preferred yellow yolks, even though they had no higher nutritive value, this recommendation was followed by a commercial poultry farmer. Although the recommendation worked, he found it too much of a hassle to get the required quantities of leaves. Instead, he wanted the scientists to find an easier and quicker solution. After some trials, they suggested mixing red palm oil with the poultry feed. What was earlier a pale yoke became yellow and that was what was required. While the poultry producer covered the cost of supplies which were required for experimentation, he did not pay any consulting fee to the institute; leaving behind an impression that people went to government organizations when they wanted their work to be done free of cost.
While discussing the activities of ARI with the foreign visitor, Mr. Arroya was of the opinion that the institute would not have faced all these difficulties had the politicians set their priorities right and gone about the economic development of the country in a systematic manner. The politicians did not appreciate and visualize the contribution which research institutes like ARI could make to the agricultural economy. Consequently, they did not see the need to support research institutes. The need for university education was well recognized and, consequently, the universities received support. Those institutes which had good buildings and laboratories could obtain funds for personnel and equipment under one or the other externally sponsored projects. This enabled them to carry on with research activities. ARI did not receive the much-needed support for permanent buildings.
Arroya was pressing the government for support whenever he could do so. Perhaps his efforts were beginning to show. Budgetary allocations had been increasing lately, reflecting an improved economic situation, Arroya's persistent efforts, and the institute's credibility. The government had been providing increasingly more funds for research from the 1986 fiscal year onwards (Table 3). In 1988, the institute had received 69 million dodes towards recurring expenditure against a request for 102 million dodes. The government had even earmarked last year 82 million dodes towards the development fund, although nothing was actually released yet. In the current fiscal year, the government had earmarked 18 million dodes for the administration building and 15 million dodes for the laboratory block. It had also allocated 5.95 million dodes for purchasing asbestos cement pipes to provide water to the Kanawaha station. However, no funds had been allocated for development of the Pokara and Naryskino research stations or purchase of tractors. The hope was that now that government was providing funds once again, the administrative building at Kanawaha would perhaps be completed in another year. Arrangements were under way to re-award the contract for the completion of the laboratory building.
Despite the low morale, cordial relations existed among the staff. Most of the senior scientists had studied together at one or the other stage. Whenever there was a problem, they would talk it over. The acting director was keen to keep the morale of the scientists high. He wrote a letter to the International Livestock Centre, Abbisadada, requesting short-term training for the ARI scientists on a continuing basis. This was accepted and so far 9 scientists had undergone training. One scientists was on his sabbatical there.
Whatever little work the institute was able to do was oriented towards solving farmers' immediate problems. Using an easy to understand English, the institute communicated its findings to the farmers. All the divisions did this kind of work, which was taken into account in staff appraisal and counted towards promotion.
There was a ray of hope. The World Bank people had visited the institute recently. A team from ISNAR followed the World Bank team. There was the possibility of a World Bank project being developed to strengthen scientific institutes in Dongal. ARI would definitely benefit from it.
Mr.. Arroya was hopeful. The mood in the Ministry of Finance was a bit relaxed this year. However, this was just the beginning. There was still a long way to go.
Except for well trained scientific manpower, the institute needed everything. The most urgent requirement was the completion of administration and laboratory buildings, to provide a permanent workplace. Workers at the institute were convinced that they could finish work on the administration building if funds were released. The work could be phased, if need be. Construction of the laboratory block, however, could be continued by a contractor. Once the administration and laboratory buildings were constructed, it would be possible to attract support from donor agencies. Laboratory chemicals and equipment were the next most urgent requirements, followed by vehicles.
As the meeting was about to conclude, the visitor remarked that "as the facilities in the institute improve, it might change the orientation towards sophisticated research. That would mean that efforts at solving farmers' problems and using indigenous inputs to replace expensive imported materials would either be shelved or given low priority. After all, the extension-type research was always less respected than sophisticated research. For the scientists, it is always much more exciting to publish in international journals and be recognized as scientists."
Arroya conceded the point. He mentioned that the mission of the institute was problem solving. The institute's research work now was oriented towards this mission, as reflected in the portfolio of research projects proposed for the next year (Exhibit 5). A balance between sophisticated and farmer-oriented, problem-solving research would have to be maintained. But that day was far off. "We have been living on a day-to-day basis for many years. That is unlikely to change in the near future," he concluded.
Table 4
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ARI RESEARCH PROJECTS PROPOSED FOR 1989 |
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· Livestock production systems · High-crude-fibre poultry diets · Cocoa husks for broiler finishers · Management and breeding systems in commercial cattle herds · Stress resistance and productivity in ruminants · Mass rearing of tsetse flies for release using the sterile insect technique · Use of traditional medicines in control of helminth infection in farm animals · Study of local methods of controlling mange in pigs · Tick research - investigation of plants for acaricidicity (tick toxicity) · Cheaper, indigenous ingredients for various types of animal feed, replacing more expensive, imported raw materials. Pasture development for feeding imported cattle · Evaluation of grasses for possible pasture development use · Trials of grass-legume combinations with higher herbage yields than pure stands · Cross-breeding to improve the locally bred A.F. Bosbeck strain to overcome problems in supply of day-old chicks and reduce imports and thus cut costs · Control ticks, and develop protective regimes against heartwater disease · Control and eradication of tsetse, which is the main transmitter of nagana, or animal trypanosomiasis · Use of traditional medicines to combat diseases of farm · Working out an appropriate male: female ratio in poultry to minimize costs · Optimum number of times eggs should be picked up in a poultry farm so as to maintain good shell quality · Maximum number of days eggs can be stored under ambient conditions with good Ventilation and without adverse effects on hatchability · Replacing - with locally manufactured wooden cages - the imported - and thus expensive - cages used for housing the poultry. · Working out appropriate feeding regimes for poultry to minimize costs |
