The 40 participants of the workshop were divided into four, multi-disciplinary working groups. A deliberate effort was made by the workshop organizers to ensure a range of background disciplines and experience in each group. Each group began with a list of 26 `gaps in knowledge' and 28 `impact opportunities' which they attempted to prioritize and adapt to formulate research themes. The four groups came to surprisingly different conclusions. An attempt is made here to draw some conclusions from the group deliberations that might guide the selection of research topics to be commissioned in the near future under the high potential production system of the Natural Resources Systems Programme (NRSP).