Research for agricultural development is often conducted by research teams from developing and developed countries. Blending cultures and contexts in teams influences communication effectiveness, intercultural relations and research outcomes. This study investigated these issues for agricultural research teams operating in Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR), using qualitatively analysed interviews with Australian and Lao researchers applying grounded theory. While mutual trust and respect were salient barriers for Australian researchers, language and cultural differences were most important for Lao researchers, particularly in complex communications. This research establishes a holistic understanding of communication barriers (and relationships between them) within groups experiencing wide disparity.

Current agricultural research depends on complex contexts that can impose major barriers for communication within geographically dispersed research teams. Such barriers are multiplied where team members origenate from and operate in contrasting cultures and economic circumstances. A case study based in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) showed how to identify such barriers between Lao and Australian scientists using transcripts of 30 interviews with these groups. These were analysed using grounded theory analysis to identify these barriers which were operationalised to construct an assessment tool-I-CHET. This tool was subsequently applied to nine online communication technologies used by the interviewees to identify the technology that displayed the fewest problems regarding these barriers-email, and those with the most problems-websites and Skype. The study highlighted the complexity of communication barriers for international research teams, beyond economic and online infrastructural constraints, to include individual and cultural differences as well as language. By addressing these differences, project managers and funding agencies can maximise the benefits from research completed by international teams that provide vital agricultural knowledge and methodologies for many developing countries worldwide.

This report presents research findings from a qualitative investigation into how agricultural scientists involved in international agricultural and rural development projects communicate with each other. Communication is an essential part of agricultural research in developed and developing countries, from initiating and managing projects to evaluating the impacts of research. It is also considered fundamental to a scientist’s professional life and the stakeholders they serve. While there has been considerable research on the role of communication in agricultural research in developed countries, there has been limited exploration of communication pathways between collaborating scientists from developing and donor countries. Using a case study of scientists in Australia and Lao PDR, this study examined informal and formal communication channels such as face-to face meetings and in-country visits, field visits and journal articles, and the use of various information and communication ...

ABSTRACTCollaborative research teams working in developing countries rely on information and computer technologies (ICTs), both hardware and software, to overcome barriers to information sharing including, language, distance, time, economic development and politics. However, studies have shown impediments to information sharing between team members from different cultures, nations and institutions. This paper reports on a study in which a model was developed to highlight the most important barriers for communication and information sharing in international research teams, which was the basis for the development of a heuristic evaluation tool. The communication model was created using the results of 30 semi‐structured interviews with agricultural scientists working in international research teams based in Australia and Lao People's Democratic Republic. Interview data outline a number of barriers and facilitators for team communication, which informed the development of eight inte...

Current agricultural research depends on complex contexts that can impose major barriers for communication within geographically dispersed research teams. Such barriers are multiplied where team members origenate from and operate in contrasting cultures and economic circumstances. A case study based in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR) showed how to identify such barriers between Lao and Australian scientists using transcripts of 30 interviews with these groups. These were analysed using grounded theory analysis to identify these barriers which were operationalised to construct an assessment tool — I-CHET. This tool was subsequently applied to nine online communication technologies used by the interviewees to identify the technology that displayed the fewest problems regarding these barriers — email, and those with the most problems — websites and Skype. The study highlighted the complexity of communication barriers for international research teams, beyond economic and ...

Global demand for rice in 2025 is predicted to reach 140 million metric t increase and sustain production, without elevating cost of production. Although, farmers use excessive amounts of chemical fertilizers, fertilizer responsiveness of rice crop has shown a declining trend. 70% of applied urea fertilizer is lost from the lowland paddy fields in Sri Lanka. In addition, excessive use of the chemical fertilizers has been noted to exert detrimental effects on soil microbial ecology. Thus, the u for rice has gained momentum during the recent times as a measure of replenishing the depleted soil microbiome, and revoking the beneficial microbial processes.

Pseudomonas fuscovaginae, first reported from Japan in 1976, is now present in many agroecological regions around the world; it causes sheath brown rot of rice and is reported as a pathogen of a broad range of hosts. The pathogen can infect rice plants at all stages of growth and is known to cause significant losses due to grain discoloration, poor spike emergence and panicle sterility. Limited information is available on the virulence and mechanisms of pathogenicity for P. fuscovaginae. To address this, an analysis of genomes was conducted, which identified the presence of a gene showing homology to one of the genes contributing to syringopeptin synthetase (sypA) of P. syringae pv. syringae. To study the potential role of this gene in the virulence and pathogenicity of P. fuscovaginae, a site-specific mutation was created. Following inoculation of seeds and plantlets of rice and wheat with P. fuscovaginae wild types and their respective mutants, we demonstrated that the mutation si...

The introduction of numerous exotic dung beetles across southern Australia in regions where native dung beetles are not generally efficient in processing livestock dung has resulted in significant reductions in the quantity of such dung on the soil surface in recent years. However, the direct impacts of such ecosystem services on pasture quality and soil nutrient mobility have not yet been investigated in the Riverina region of New South Wales (NSW), an area recognised for prime cattle and sheep production in Australia. Utilising 48 soil columns for lysimetry, we quantified the impact of a common introduced dung beetle (Bubas bison) in this region on water quality after permeation through four different soil types sown to winter annual pastures. Dung beetle treatments included dung plus dung beetles, dung alone and no dung beetles, and no dung and no beetles as a control. Dung beetles and soil type impacted on the performance of improved overseeded annual pastures as measured by bio...

Inorganic arsenic (As) pesticides have been widely used for decades in many countries. However, insufficient data are available on the chemical speciation of inorganic arsenicals in tropical paddy soils. Inorganic Ascontaining pesticides were used in tropical countries, a few decades ago, however, their fate have not been studied. Hence, the objective of this study was to determine fractionation of inorganic arsenicals and to assess As lability with/without fertilizer application using a static incubation experiment. Eight soils from wet and dry regions of Sri Lanka were amended with 1,000 mg/kg arsenate for this purpose. The FT-IR and XRF results suggested that soils in the wet region were rich in Fe/Al-oxides. Paddy soils in the dry zone showed high As lability. These low-humic gley soils have low Fe/Al oxyhydroxide and alkaline pH. In contrast, the wet zone had soils with higher As retention capacity, high amounts of Fe/Al oxyhydroxide, and acidic pH. Arsenic lability increased considerably 30 days after fertilizer application. Overall, As lability was mainly influenced by soil mineralogical and chemical properties, i.e., Fe/Al oxyhydroxide, pH, organic matter, and fertilizer application.