The Rural Voice, 1987-12, Page 31the farmers, and they knew how to
control the insect before a formal
announcement was made.
This example is a textbook case
of good agricultural research. But
describing it in this way implies that
not all research is as good, and the
cutworm example may be a bit
unusual. If this is so, what is it about
this research that makes it so good?
The first step in answering this
question is to define what is meant by
good. Is it the quality of the research
itself or the fact that the research
succeeded in bringing practical
results? Research that brings practical
results carries the most weight with
the non-scientific population, and
there is some justification for this
view. In agricultural science it is the
result that counts, not necessarily the
process. Facts are not gathered for
their own sake but as part of an at-
tempt to understand agriculture more
fully, with the aim of improving it.
This is a valid way to judge agri-
cultural research, but as is often the
case, the issue is a little more complex
and demands a more complex assess-
ment. The research on the strawberry
cutworm succeeded because every-
thing went right. The best way to
appreciate how important this is to the
success of an experiment is to exa-
mine ways in which the research could
have gone wrong.
Problems can be encountered at
every stage. If the plant damage had
been similar to damage caused by a
disease transmitted by the insect,
researchers might have started out by
looking for the disease. While gener-
ally researchers do look at the simple
things first, it is conceivable that a
wrong assessment of the problem
could have delayed progress for years.
Similarly, the life history research
could have been inconclusive. For
example, if the moths had laid eggs in
brush and grass away from the straw-
berries, there would have been confu-
sion about this important aspect of the
life cycle. This would not be a logical
place for the eggs to be — the insect
eats strawberries, so its eggs should be
near strawberries. But nature is not
always logical, and unconventional
life habits can cause years of conster-
nation.
Even once the life cycle is known,
there may be problems. The cutworm
in question spends most of its life
inside plants or in the ground, pro-
tected from insecticides. If the moth
had inserted the eggs directly into the
core of the plant., there would have
been no stage exposed to chemical
sprays except for the adult, and adult
moths are notoriously hard to control.
The farmer would have had to wait for
the time of night when the moths were
flying and blanket the entire patch
with an aerial spray. And the treat-
ment would have had to be repeated
over several weeks to ensure that no
eggs were laid by late -flying moths.
Growers would not have appreciated
the inconvenience and expense.
Finally, the testing of the control
practice can show it to be uneconom-
ical or impractical. If, for example,
the treatment proposed involved the
heating of the soil to kill the pupae,
there could be a considerable lag time
before the technology was perfected
for farm use. The spray program
actually proposed used existing
technology and chemicals, so it was
easily adapted to the situation.
Had any of these hypothetical
stumbling blocks been real, the
perception of this research program
would have been very different.
Instead of the growers getting good,
fast control, they would have waited
while seemingly useless research was
done in an attempt to get around the
block. In fact, the lucky, easy projects
often look good, while the tough
research jobs look bad.
Most agricultural research ends up
being of some practical benefit to the
farmer, and ultimately this is what is
important. A fast program and a slow
one set out to do the same thing:
understand a system well enough to
modify it. Some systems reveal their
inner workings easily, giving spectac-
ularly fast results. Some systems take
years of slow work, but the effects are
just as good. It is through the com-
bined efforts of fast and slow research
that Canadian farms have become
much more pleasant and effrcient.0
!an Wylie-Toal holds a Bachelor of
Science in Agriculture and worked for
seven years at the Research Station in
Winnipeg before moving to Flesherton
with his wife and two boys in 1986.
Ilis series of articles on agricultural
research continues next month.
Scott Drainage
Erosion Control
Structures
Complete
Farm Drainage Service
Plastic • Clay • Concrete
Ripley
519-395-3563
519-395-2992
FARM MONEY
SERVICES
Stephen Thompson
If you need bank forms,
government forms, and
income tax done well
for a good price, I do it.
My customers and their
lenders tell me my work
is good and the price is
better.
Now is the time to
combine all those bank,
government, and tax
forms into one well-
prepared, low-cost
package.
References available.
Stephen Thompson
Clinton 482-9225
Blyth 523-4916
DECEMBER 1987 29
J