Many agricultural assistance programs are based on the premise that farmers do not experiment and hence do not know what the best production methods are. If, as our research may find, this premise is incorrect, large amounts of resources may be being spent ineffectively on technical assistance programs aimed at a problem that has been incorrectly identified. If this is the case, development organizations and practitioners may choose to redirect the funds to other types of programs -such as microfinance programs- that give farmers the flexibility to make efficient choices in their production.

In 2006 we worked with Kalimajari, an Indonesian-based NGO, to study the production methods of seaweed farmers in Indonesia's Bali Province. Findings from this research revealed that farmers do experiment with technologies and that recommendations based on laboratory research are not always optimal in practice. As a follow-up to our earlier work, this project aims to better document the choices farmers make during the production process and to determine if farmers are using the best methods available to them.

This research is conducted among 500 seaweed farmers from three islands in Indonesia's Bali Province. A baseline survey gathers information on farmer demographics, practices and past experimentation methods and tracks how information passes through farming communities. Additionally, 250 farmers are asked to participate in a scientific trial on their plots to test the productivity of various production techniques, spacing and seedling sizes.