Soil management, cropping systems and farming systems researches are new fields of investigation which require a multidisciplinary approach. These research fields have attracted a great deal of interest in recent years due to the migration of low-income populations into marginal lands, Adaptive research, using current knowledge and adapting it to specific environments, is the first priority. This research is concerned to test different low-and high-cash input options and to assess their relative profitability and sustainability. National Agricultural Research Systems are in the best position to undertake this adaptive research. However they often need strengthening by complementary financial support, information and training. Networks and particularly collaborative research networks offer the best answer to this challenge. This type of network needs specific objective, a common type of experiment and methodology, and supervised coordination. The establishment of a network may take some time, example as the development of the IBSRAM ASIAI-AND network has shown. Three years have been needed to establish it, largely as a result of the difficulties encountered in preparing the national proposals and into procuring donor support it.