New agricultural chemicals, new varieties and crop types with different tolerances for adverse conditions and a wide variety of vegetative periods, and new crop establishment and management alternatives are being developed in unprecedented quantities. The formulation of the research program for a site coincides with the design of cropping patterns for that site and should be completed at least one month in advance of the first seeding date at the site. Cropping patterns and their management are tested in farmers’ fields to verify the assumptions made in the cropping systems research process, particularly those at the design stage. The research team at the site is the instrument of cropping systems research. The Cropping Systems Training Program at International Rice Research Institute carries groups of graduates from various disciplines through the physical, biological, and socio-economic aspects of site description, design, testing and component technology research, preproduction testing, and production program formulation.