writing good research proposal

2Continued..

Good: Commendable, right, proper, excellent; it should be well targeted.

Time frame: As suggested/ approved by the donor / funding agency.

Presenter:

S. M. Virmani(Retd.) ICRISAT Scientist

Training:

Ecologist, Soil Scientist – AgronomistAgricultural Climatologist, Edaphologist

Work Experience:

Sustainable / Conservation Agriculture in the Semi-Arid TropicsDryland Agriculture

Transfer of Technology/ HRD

1. What is a good research proposal: key words2. Your presenter

3. Target/ purpose of a good research proposalFirst: Decide the research domainSecond: Target the proposal to the selected audience/sThird: The nature and kind of the research proposalsFourth: The Hypothesis

4. An Example: Identifying the research problemA) The Research issueB) The HypothesisC) The Presentation of an example research proposal.

5. Summary6. Final words

First: Decide the application domain of your research, it could be;

• Yourself/ or your group, to record the progress to be made

over a period of time;

• Your institute, or your peers the progress to be made with a

given set of resources;

• Donor groups who will fund your research;

• Decision-makers at the state, regional or national level; or

• Stakeholders - who will eventually use the results of your

research.

Second: Target your research proposal to a given set of audience/s

Third: The nature and kinds of the research proposals:

a) Exploratory*;b) Suggestive*;c) Preliminary*;d) Definitive – but raises questions for future

research; ore) It descries a set of principles, theories; or laws ready for application in a given agroecologicalsetting * work in progress

Fourth: The proposal must be based on a set of hypothesis. Your research when funded must approve or disapprove the hypothesis.

Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L) an oilseed crop is grown in peninsular India and southern India. The Directorate of Oilseeds Research (DOR), an institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, observed that:

1) the yield (productivity) of the crop at farm level is stagnant (last 30 years) ; declining trend (1994-2004)

2) the area under the crop is declining; and

3) therefore, the production of safflower in India is decreasing for the past several years.

• Why the production of safflower is reducing year on year ?

• Preliminary farm surveys showed that there is no major change in the practices of growing the crop;

• The quality of seed used for sowing was normal;

• There was no significant change in biotic stresses.

The decline in production may be caused by climate change that is taking place

in the regions where safflower is traditionally grown.

a) To learn & quantify climate-change that has occurred in safflower growing regions over the past decade or two;

b) To inform the safflower researchers of the impending production issues;

c) To convince the decision-makers at the institute level/ donors to facilitate interdisciplinary research in the area of climate change by more allocation of funds and by encouraging human resource development; and

d) To suggest the course of future research for sustaining safflower production in the times ahead.

Climate Change: Impact on SafflowerImpact of Climate Change on SafflowerImpact of Climate Change on Safflower

12

Climate Change: Impacts on Safflower Productivity and Production

Safflower Research and Development in the World: Status and Strategies

12


13

Key words are,


14

production and productivity are intimately related, because

our climate is changing due to global changes in atmospheric composition; land, water and biota are undergoing a transformation due to anthropogenic actions.

therefore research must be undertaken to quantify climate change x safflower productivity interactions in order to sustain safflower production.

Climate Change x Safflower


15

It is thermo-sensitive.

It is primarily grown in rainfed agriculture.

Its rooting depends on, dense layers in soil profile and its depth.

Its productivity depends on abiotic stresses, particularly at sowing and soil moisture deficit at flowering and maturity stages.

Safflower is a crop highly sensitive to weather.


16

Basic, strategic and frontier science research must be initiated so as to counter mal-effects of climate change.

Conclusions of our paper are:


17

Our paper is divided in six parts : we describe


1818

Safflower growing Countries

Source: After http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safflower

Mexico

Canada

USA

Australia

China

India


1919

Growth stages of Safflower

Source: Kaffka and Kearney 1998

Climate Change: Impact on SafflowerImpact of Climate Change on Safflower

2020

Weather at Solapur, Maharashtra, IndiaMean of 20 years (1991-2010)

Data Source: AICRP Agrometeorology, Solapur, India


21

Variation and Shift of Rainfall at Solapur, Maharashtra, India

Source: AICRP Agrometeorology, CRIDA, Hyderabad


2222

Annual variation of temperature at Solapur, India



2323

Drop : 8.3 > 6.6 hours

Solar dimming at Akola, Maharashtra


Drop : 20.0 > 17.7 MJ/m2/day)Drop : 8.3 > 6.6 hours


2424

Weather at Bakersfield, California, USAMean of 20 years (1991-2010)

Data source: http://www.tutiempo.net/en/Climate/north_america.htm

http://www.tutiempo.net/en/Climate/north_america.htm


2525

Annual minimum temperature increase and precipitation decrease at Bakersfield, California, USA

Source: http://www.tutiempo.net/en/Climate/north_america.htm



2626

Weather at Hermosillo, MexicoMean of 20 years (1991-2010)

Data source: http://www.tutiempo.net/en/Climate/north_america.htm



2727

Annual temperature increase and precipitation decrease at Hermosillo, Mexico

Source: http://www.tutiempo.net/en/Climate/north_america.htm



2828

Biotic stress

Soil related abiotic stress

Soil quality degradation

Other threats


2929


3030

2°C rise in temperature: Thermal stress tolerant cultivarsAgro-ecological zones - Crop shift

Rise in Relative Humidity: Germplasm screening for tolerance to crop pests and diseases

Shift in withdrawal of New seed treatments to ensure good monsoon: crop stand

Lowering of solar radiation: Cultivars that give higher yield underdecreased radiation.

Approaches

Continued..


3131

Seed treatment

High density planting

Conservation Agriculture

Breeding short duration varieties

Approaches


3232

Continued..

A comprehensive strategy (adaptation and

mitigation) for addressing climate change

impacts in the safflower growing areas

should be developed and implemented.


3333Continued..

Delineation of safflower specific agro-ecological zones.

Crop shift to new areas in the changing climatic conditions.

The agro-ecological condition of some of the areas in Jammu and Kashmir is similar to those observed in Mexico and the USA. Studies to explore the production of safflower (varieties of temperate region) in these regions may be initiated in cooperation with CRIDA and CAZRI.


34

The oil content and ratio of fatty acids viz., linoleic and oleic are likely to change with higher ambient temperatures.

Saline soil areas where climate is suitable for safflower have to be explored.

Studies on response of safflower to changing climatic conditions in comparison to other post-rainy season drylandcrops needs attention.

Pubic private partnership mode of research may be adopted so that the oil industry based on safflower is fully geared to use the new seeds more efficiently.

34

A good research proposal must not be repetitive, it must add new information

when concluded; it must define the domain of application;

and it must be well targeted to the audience in focus.

writing good research proposal

Leadership & Management

safflowerclimate change

continuedclimate change

research issueb

research problema

research proposalsfourth

research domainsecond

example research proposal

good research proposalfirst