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Minimum Data Set for Agronomic Trials Offers Basis for Comparison
The following outline has been
prepared to offer some standardiza-
tion to the basic content of articles
on agronomic trials for the Kansas
State University Farming Systems
Symposium. This "Minimum Data
Set" will offer a ready means for
comparison of agronomic presenta-
tions in two pages of text. Symposium
organizers are using this data set for-
mat as a test to evaluate and to
formulate guidelines that can affect
the quality and usefulness of FSR/E
literature in general.
The Minimum Data Set is not in-
tended as an outline to write from,
or as an outline to guide the compo-
sition of a paper. Rather, it is intend-
ed as a structured summary of data
that relates to the agronomic trials
reported in a paper. All data called
for in the outline should accompany
the text, even though all of the data
may not be included as part of the
text, or used in the oral presentation.
The two-page summary will allow a
comparative analysis by ensuring
that similar data are reported for
various projects and trials.
The idea for the Minimum Data
Set arose at the 1984 FSSP Annual
Meeting, held following last year's
Symposium. The outline reflects
comments received from participants
and has been substantially revised
from its original draft form.
1. Location
a. Country
b. Province, Department, State
c. Other
2. Environment
a. Latitude
b. Elevation
c. Temperature
1) Annual pattern
2) Specific during trial period
3) Daily max-min
d. Precipitation
1) Pattern
2) Specific during trial period
3) Evapotranspiration and/or
humidity
4) Irrigated
e. Soil
1) Structure
2) Texture
3) Classification
4) pH
5) Fertility
6) Color
7) Slope
3. Socio-economic
a. Size distribution of farms,
median for area, mean for trials
b. Land tenure
c. Ethnic group/language
d. Access to input and output
markets
e. Access to credit
4. Nature of cropping system
a. Subsistence/cash objectives
b. Labor requirements
1) Female/male
2) Distribution over time
3) Hired/family
c. Energy requirements-manual,
animal, mechanical
d. Cash requirements (descriptions)
1) Price of key inputs
2) Price of products
e. Other fie4d-household inter-
actions
5. Trial details
a. Crop or crops
b. Previous crops and management
c. Cultivars
d. Planting and harvest dates
e. Experimental design, replica-
tions
f. Treatments
g. Layout, plot size, harvested area
h. Level of farmer involvement
(researcher managed-farmer
managed continuum)
6. Factors to relate the trial back to
the farming system
a. Problem trying to solve-hy-
pothesis of the intervention
b. Infrastructure and policy
implications
c. Farmer assessment of the in-
tervention in terms of the
problem trying to solve
7. Any unusual or other important
circumstances
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