Expanding the existing global network of farmers and researchers who connect using On-Farm Experimentation, could help transform the agricultural industry and solve some of its toughest challenges, a Curtin University-led study has found.
On-Farm Experimentation (OFE) is a big data approach to agricultural research that allows farmers to conduct their own on-farm experiments in collaboration with scientists. It is a way for farmers to test technologies and practices by varying management, observing and measuring changes, and analysing results – all in real farm conditions, with a focus on what matters to each farm and field.
The study, published in Nature Food, found that there is high demand internationally for this type of collaborative research.
Lead researcher Dr Myrtille Lacoste from Curtin’s School of Design and the Built Environment, said that the growing need for OFE can be attributed to both the motivation of farmers to develop better practices and scientists’ increased thirst for data.
“OFE places farmers back at the centre of innovation and gives them the opportunity to test and measure various technologies and methods for example fertiliser, chemical, crop variety or cultivation practice, with help from researchers and scientists,” Dr Lacoste said.
“The roots of OFE were pioneered decades ago but are only now gaining momentum. This has been supported by a growing demand for research practices that recognise farmers’ central role in innovation, and by the rise of digital technologies that facilitate experimentation.
“OFE brings forward experimentation as a force to innovate by building bridges between farmers and researchers.”
“This powerful collaborative tool has the potential to transform the agricultural industry if users from around the globe were able to add to the ways knowledge is built, create new tools and harness different types of data in better ways.”
Dr Lacoste said a successful inaugural International Conference on farmer-centric OFE held in 2021 showed the depth and breadth of the international interest on this topic.
“We had over 180 participants from 36 different countries, networking and sharing ideas. We hope the results of this study will attract more funding so that we can continue to build a platform to bring our international partners together,” Dr Lacoste said.
“Further we think OFE, currently run by farmers, civil organisations, businesses, social enterprises and scientists, would greatly benefit from a defined leadership group.”
Co-author Dr Rob Bramley, Senior Principal Research Scientist (Precision Agriculture) with CSIRO, said there is growing momentum to rethink the relationship between farmers and scientific experimentation to drive meaningful impact.
“Over many years we’ve been successfully using the OFE approach in research, including for crop responses to fertilizer in WA and vineyard floor management and disease control. Farmers lead the investigation and make the observations, while researchers take on the role of supporter, providing data analysis and transferring the knowledge,” Dr Bramley said.
This study involved an international team of researchers spanning 24 research institutions across eight countries, including co-author Professor Simon Cook based at Murdoch University and the WA Premier’s Agriculture and Food Fellowship Program.
The full paper, titled On-Farm Experimentation to transform global agriculture, is available online here.
