A Phrase Or Some Other Name Would Be Nice

IGNRM? The full word is at the tip of my tongue, but I can’t say it. Ignoring it is what I have been doing. But there comes a time when you can no longer ignore the technical term, that which I suspect was invented to add some mystery to the science. Or to confound science writers like me who already have enough problems grasping for a metaphor or two.

A metaphor for a mouthful. IGNRM: integrated genetic and natural resource management. And what would that be, I ask? The name ‘IGNRM’ is a long way from a rose memorable by its pleasant smell. A phrase or some other name would be nice.

I anticipate a steep learning curve here. IGNRM is the strategy adopted by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in her campus at Andhra Pradesh, India to carry out its world-wide mandate (icrisat.org), and since I’m applying myself to a study of ICRISAT as an exemplar of a global agency engaged in international research for development (iR4D) in the Age of Information, one that goes from theory to practice in a continuous motion, from poor farmer back to poor farmer, in many different places at the same time, I have to confront this problem of translating the technical to the practical. So whether I like it or not, as an interpreter of research for development, I have to translate this:

ICRISAT adopts integrated genetic and natural resource management (IGNRM) as its overarching research strategy to attain scientific excellence and relevance in agriculture in the semi-arid tropics, focusing on key livelihood and income opportunities to improve the well-being of the poor with equity, multi-disciplinarity, sustainability and community participation as core principles.

A bigger mouthful. Long words in a long, complicated single sentence-single paragraph are unnecessary to impress on me that the work of ICRISAT is necessary and significant in R4D for farmers in the degraded lands of the semi-arid tropics, and that IGNRM is that crucial to the work of ICRISAT. My problem right now is that I don’t understand what exactly is IGNRM? I know it means integrated genetic and natural resources management, but I can’t tell myself what does that mean precisely.

You understand that I have two problems here. One, I have to be able to explain it to myself before I can write about it; so, I have to go and see if I can extract the essence of IGNRM. Two, I have to understand how the genetic resource is integrated with the natural resource; so, I have to go and clarify to myself the IGNRM process.

I have to get to the bottom of this. If you can’t solve a problem, change the problem! Since I can’t understand it as a whole at first sight, I will now dismember it – if this is deconstruction I don’t recommend it; I’ve never been an admirer of Jacques Derrida – and see if I can create a whole out of those parts. As usual, I shall consult my favorite American Heritage Dictionary and take it from there:

Integrated. Made into a whole by bringing the parts together; something unified.

Genetic. Said of genes, which are units that carry particular characteristics of an organism such as height, offspring, method of reproduction, resistance to disease (or susceptibility).

Natural resource. A material source of good or benefit that occurs in a state not made or altered by man: denizens of the forest, the forest itself, timber, orchids, fresh water, mineral deposits, fish, shellfish etc.

Management. Handling, supervision or control.

So, what, in heaven’s name, is integrated genetic and natural resource management? Analyzing, I see that that is a good question but not the proper first question; these are the proper first questions, in sequence:

What do you mean genetic management?
What do you mean natural resource management?
What do you mean integrated management?

The ICRISAT website tells me:

IGNRM … is a powerful integrative strategy of agricultural research that seeks to maximize the synergies among the disciplines of biotechnology, plant breeding, agronomy, agro-ecosystems and social sciences with people empowerment at its core.

Which means two things: (1) IGNRM calls for synergy (2) among these sciences: biotechnology, plant breeding, agronomy, agro-ecosystems and social sciences. That tells me that these are the science fields in which activities happen that are unified under the concept of IGNRM.

I am beginning to like my steep learning curve on the IGNRM.

Through biotechnology and plant breeding, Team ICRISAT is going to create new varieties of crops that are superior to those currently planted in terms of resistance to stresses (water, temperature), insect pests, diseases. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I see that:

Via biotechnology, scientists are able to transfer the genes of resistance from one variety that has these genes to another that doesn’t have them, creating a new crop variety.

Via plant breeding, scientists are able to create new varieties that not only accept those gene transplants but also possess other superior characters such as high yield and low cost of cultivation (say, the crop is drought-resistant and so there is no need to irrigate the field).

Via agronomy, scientists are able to determine what are the soil and crop practices that bring out the best in the new varieties.

Via the perspective of agro-ecosystems, scientists are able to predict or at least appreciate how these new varieties will relate in the natural scheme of things, in relation to, say, other crops, poultry, livestock, the atmosphere, soils and water.

Via the perspective of the social sciences, scientists are able to probe into how the new varieties would impinge on the lives of people sociologically, psychologically, anthropologically, economically, politically, historically.

Combine all that and you have IGNRM, I mean, what I have just told you is what I understand is Integrated Genetic and Natural Resource Management.

So, IGNRM is that complicated! Well, I don’t know of any science that is not complicated as long as it deals with people – as long as it is the scientists themselves explaining themselves. Which is a good thing. Because when scientists have problems explaining research intentions, implementations, interpretations, implications, they call on us popularizers of science, and I love that! That proves that we writers are their significant other and, you know, we like to feel needed too.

From a website, I read this: ‘With improved rainwater management as an entry point along with Integrated Genetic and Natural Resource Management …’ (worldbank.org). Which means that with the simple act of teaching the handling of rainwater in the context of a good farming practice, scientists can enter into the lives of people in the villages and soon immerse them in IGNRM.

The report is that with ICRISAT, in Kotaphally, Andhra Pradesh, India, IGNRM has consisted of introducing broad-bed and furrow cultivation, planting Gliricidia on bunds for green manure, introducing new crops and cropping systems, integrated pest management, developing micro-enterprises (icrisat.org). In the Tad Fa and Wang Chai watersheds in Thailand, and Thanh Ha and Huong Dao watersheds in Vietnam, IGNRM has comprised of legumes being included in the cropping systems, contour cultivation, vegetative bunds, integrated pest management, diversified cropping. Like I told you, IGNRM is a tangle of items, a complication of terms. Are they trying to help the farmers, or are they trying to confuse them?

Let me put it more simply: In practical terms, IGNRM is the use of knowledge in different fields of science for farmers to produce more for less, and to be able to enjoy a life of dignity without exploiting people or natural resources – or without other people exploiting them for their personal interests.

That’s still complicated, and I still don’t like IGNRM, the name.

‘O, be some other name! / What’s in a name?’ Juliet asks of Romeo, his sweetheart in William Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo & Juliet, in that very famous balcony scene (Act II, Scene 2). ‘That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet; / So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call’d …’

Juliet is asking Romeo to change his name, to deny his father in fact, as their two families are engaged in a destructive war against each other. (All wars are destructive.) If Romeo changes his name, he changes the nature of that war.

So, what’s in a name? If it happens to be IGNRM, what’s in a name is a whole universe of sciences from agronomy to zero cultivation, and it can get confusing. Actually, with this essay, I have tried to clarify what IGNRM is and incidentally made it memorable, but I still don’t like the looks of it: IGNRM. So I make with Juliet her plaint:

‘O, be some other name!’

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This entry was posted on Thursday, October 18th, 2007 at 9:10 pm and is filed under creative photography, creative thinking, creative writing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.