Researchers from India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are benefiting from specialized training in research methods relating to agroforestry.

The website of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) reports on a week-long training program in Jhansi organized by ICAR-Central Agroforestry Research Institute (CAFRI) and the South Asia Programme of the World Agroforestry Centre.

“The training program aims to help researchers design practical, valid and efficient agroforestry experiments that meet useful objectives,” says the article. It also presents newer areas of experimentation, including multi-environment trials for understanding complex interactions with ecological and social factors.

According to Dr. Richard Coe, Principal Scientist (Research Methods) at the World Agroforestry Centre, researchers need to understand how general principles of experimental design can be put into practice in agroforestry experiments, including participatory trials done with farmers.

The training is of particular relevance given the country’s National Agroforestry Policy which was introduced in early 2014. It draws heavily on the experiences of an agroforestry network that has been in place for more than 3 decades in India and other countries.

Read the full story: International Training Programme on Research Methods in Agroforestry inaugurated at ICAR- CAFRI, Jhansi