Following the successes and mistakes of the 'green revolution' in the 1960s, agricultural research and extension organisations began to adapt their agendas in acknowledgement that conditions on small-scale farms differed from those on agricultural research stations. This paper put forward the case for participatory on-farm research, through a review of literature from the 1970s and 1980s. The author concluded that research programmes which involved farmers from the earliest stages of planning as decision-makers, not employees, would have more relevance and impact than non-participatory research.