Download Free Agricultural Research And Extension Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Agricultural Research And Extension and write the review.

Agricultural transformation and development are critical to the livelihoods of more than a billion small-scale farmers and other rural people in developing countries. Extension and advisory services play an important role in such transformation and can assist farmers with advice and information, brokering and facilitating innovations and relationships, and dealing with risks and disasters. Agricultural Extension: Global Status and Performance in Selected Countries provides a global overview of agricultural extension and advisory services, assesses and compares extension systems at the national and regional levels, examines the performance of extension approaches in a selected set of country cases, and shares lessons and policy insights. Drawing on both primary and secondary data, the book contributes to the literature on extension by applying a common and comprehensive framework — the “best-fit” approach — to assessments of extension systems, which allows for comparison across cases and geographies. Insights from the research support reforms — in governance, capacity, management, and advisory methods — to improve outcomes, enhance financial sustainability, and achieve greater scale. Agricultural Extension should be a valuable resource for policymakers, extension practitioners, and others concerned with agricultural development.
Although few Americans work as farmers these days, agriculture on the whole remains economically importantâ€"playing a key role in such contemporary issues as consumer health and nutrition, worker safety and animal welfare, and environmental protection. This publication provides a comprehensive picture of the primary education system for the nation's agriculture industry: the land grant colleges of agriculture. Colleges of Agriculture at the Land Grant Universities informs the public debate about the challenges that will shape the future of these colleges and serves as a foundation for a second volume, which will present recommendations for policy and institutional changes in the land grant system. This book reviews the legislative history of the land grant system from its establishment in 1862 to the 1994 act conferring land grant status on Native American colleges. It describes trends that have shaped agriculture and agricultural education over the decadesâ€"the shift of labor from farm to factory, reasons for and effects of increased productivity and specialization, the rise of the corporate farm, and more. The committee reviews the system's three-part missionâ€"education, research, and extension serviceâ€"and through this perspective documents the changing nature of funding and examines the unique structure of the U.S. agricultural research and education system. Demographic data on faculties, students, extension staff, commodity and funding clusters, and geographic specializations profile the system and identify similarities and differences among the colleges of agriculture, trends in funding, and a host of other issues. The tables in the appendix provide further itemization about general population distribution, student and educator demographics, types of degree programs, and funding allocations. Concise commentary and informative graphics augment the detailed statistical presentations. This book will be important to policymakers, administrators, educators, researchers, and students of agriculture.
First published in 1987, Agricultural Extension Worldwide presents an international perspective on agricultural extension and highlights extension as an integral function of agricultural development. Agricultural extension is one of the largest nonformal problem-solving educational systems in the world. It is generally concerned with transferring knowledge and research to farmers but may include services to other target audiences such as farm families and rural youth, as well as serve for developing rural community resources. In sixteen chapters, various major systems of extension are discussed along with factors that make for their success or failure, including the linkages required and the policy and financial supports necessary to make them effective. This book is a must read for scholars and researchers of agricultural economics, agricultural policy and agriculture in general.
Since their inception in 1862, the U.S. land grant colleges have evolved to become the training ground for the nation's and the world's agriculturists. In this book, the committee examines the future of the colleges of agriculture in light of changing national priorities for the agricultural, food, and natural resource system. The effects of federal funding constraints also are examined, as are opportunities for growth presented by developments in science. The committee's preceding volume, Colleges of Agriculture at the Land Grant Universities: A Profile, is a compilation of the data that helped formulate the specific questions to be addressed. Colleges of Agriculture at the Land Grant Univerisities: Public Service and Public Policy is the deliberative report, rating conclusions and recommendations for institutional innovation and public policy. It addresses these and other questions: What education mission should colleges of agriculture adoptâ€"and what strategies should they useâ€"in light of significant changes in the agricultural complex? Research in agriculture is expected to respond to consumer demands, environmental concerns, world population growth, and increasing pressure on agricultural lands. Is the century-old structure of land grant university-based research up to the task? What is the role of extension in light of today's smaller farming communities and larger farming conglomerates? This volume is the culmination of a landmark evaluation of land grant colleges of agriculture, an American institution. This document will be of value to policymakers, administrators, and others involved in agricultural science and education.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) requested that the Board on Agriculture and Natural Resources of the National Research Council (NRC) convene a panel of experts to examine whether publicly funded agricultural research has influenced the structure of U.S. agriculture and, if so, how. The Committee to Review the Role of Publicly Funded Agricultural Research on the Structure of U.S. Agriculture was asked to assess the role of public-sector agricultural research on changes in the size and numbers of farms, with particular emphasis on the evolution of very-large-scale operations.
In a world facing chronic and increasing shortages in food crops and natural resources, visionary leadership in agriculture becomes more and more critical for building and maintaining a sustainable future. It is of paramount importance that the dynamic and challenging evolution in agriculture over the last century and a half be met today with imaginative leadership in virtually all aspects of activities and organizations involved. Leadership in Agriculture: Case Studies for a New Generation focuses on key characteristics and elements of leadership. Using case studies from research, industry, education, administration, and extension services, the authors present real-world circumstances ranging from natural disasters to major restructuring that demanded problem solving, new initiatives, consensus, and organizational commitment. Drawing on their own experiences and covering topics as diverse as closing facilities, mounting a national research initiative, reinventing a major corporation, and dealing with invasive termites, the studies contain examples of both good and bad outcomes and tie back to the stated leadership principles and qualities. TABLE OF CONTENTS: Preface vii Acknowledgments xiii Leadership in the Agricultural Environment 1 Character: The Bedrock of Leaders and Leadership 13 Case Studies—How Leadership Can Make a Difference 37 1. Facing Down Nature: How a Regional Lab Survived Hurricane Katrina (Addressing Physical Crises) 38 2. Exerting Ag Leadership in Distributed Geographic Locations (Coordinating Dispersed Units within One Organization) 49 3. Closing and Relocating Facilities and Terminating Programs (Leadership Challenges with Organizational Restructuring) 59 4. National Research Initiative: Creating a Shared Leadership Vision (Bringing about a New Solution) 73 5. Battling Formosan Subterranean Termites (Forging a New Approach) 81 6. Gathering of the Agricultural Clan (Bringing Leaders Together without Central Authority) 90 7. Monsanto: How One Company Saw the Future and Transformed to Seize It (Leadership’s Role in a Significant Change) 96 8. Enhancing Leadership in the State Agricultural Experiment Stations (Cultivating New Leadership) 123 9. Development of the Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) (Enhancing a Better Understanding of Agricultural Science and Technology) 133 Lessons Learned from Case Studies 145 Making Leadership Work for You 152 Appendixes: How Does the Scientific Agricultural System Work? 161 Appendix A. The Land-Grant System: A Key to America’s Dream? How Does It Function? 161 Appendix B. The USDA’s Agricultural Research Service: Focus on National and International Issues 165 Appendix C. The Industrial Approach to Research: Diverse Foci Linked to Industrial Economic Effects 167 Notes 171 Bibliography 173 About the Authors 177 Index 179
This report is a congressionally mandated review of the US Department of Agriculture's Research, Education, and Economics (REE) mission area, the main engine of publicly funded agricultural research in the United States. A changing social and scientific context of agriculture requires a new vision of agricultural research-one that will support agriculture as a positive economic, social, and environmental force. REE is uniquely positioned to advance new research frontiers in environment, public health, and rural communities. The report recommends that REE be more anticipatory and strategic in its use of limited resources and guide and champion new directions in research.
An innovation system can be defined as a network of organizations, enterprises, and individuals demanding and supplying knowledge and bringing it into a social and economic use. This book's primary aim, therefore, is to focus on the largely unexplored operational aspects of the innvoation systems concept and to explore its potential for agriculture. 'Enhancing Agricultural Innovation' evaluates real-world innovation systems and assesses the usefulness of the concept in guiding investments to support knowledge-intensive, sustainable agricultural development. A typology of innovation systems is developed; strategies to guide investments for strengthening innovation capacity are drawn up; and concrete interventions options defined. In its conclusions, the book emphasizes the importance of mechanisms for collaboration and interaction. Intermediary organizations, innovation councils, farmer organizations, and other means to strengthen collaboration are central to creating the exchange of knowledge and perspectives that will convert knowledge into valuable new social and economic products and services.