The system level of change and its impact on the role of agricultural organizations

Institutional innovation is now the major source of technological change in agriculture. Agricultural research and extension organizations are called on to fulfil multiple roles involving servicing, diffusion, innovation and obsolescence. Using the Queensland Department of Primary Industries as a case study, this paper analyses the multiple roles of officers of the Department in three current projects, sheep and wool husbandry practices, feasibility studies of an irradiation plant for horticultural products and restructuring of the sugar industry. It defines the degree of change in these projects in terms of system level (complexity). It relates system level of change to the various phases of the technology life cycle and suggests appropriate system methodologies for these phases. A model is proposed which shows the interaction between system level and system intervention methodology. The paper concludes that hierarchial organizations are suited to low system level changes while matrix type organizations provide the needed flexibility to promote high level system changes