ABSTRACT
Technology evaluation is necessary when technologies have long production cycles which do not permit their installation and maturation within a project time frame. The objective of the Mixed Systems project was to develop technologies appropriate to the nearly universal "mixed" animal-crop production strategy practiced by small farmers in Central America. In 1973, Tropical Agricultural Research and Training Center began with a broad project called the "Small Farmer Cropping Systems Project" in response to observations made with regard to agriculture in Central America. Technology evaluation faces a special set of problems since results must be projected onto a larger population on the basis of interviews and observation of farm activities on few farms. The validation of technology requires several complete reproductive cycles. The ultimate objective of the validation process in Farming Systems Research is the observation of new technologies on farms, under farmer management practices with minimal intervention from technical personnel, except in the form of advice.
