Publications

The Research and Technology group is pleased to announce publication of the summary document of the FAO e-mail conference "Molecular marker assisted selection as a potential tool for genetic improvement of crops, forest trees, livestock and fish in developing countries". This 10-page document aims to provide an easy-readable synopsis of the main issues and concerns discussed by participants during this moderated e-mail conference, hosted by the FAO Biotechnology Forum from 17 November to 14 December 2003. During the 4-week conference, 85 messages were posted, about 60% coming from people living in developing countries.

The FAO concept of Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD) was one of a number of concepts that crystallized during the 1980s. The importance of the SARD concept1 was recognized and confirmed at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), Rio de Janeiro, 3-14 June 1992, with Chapter 14 of Agenda 21 setting out the programmes and specific actions needed to promote sustainable agriculture and rural development. In the years since the UNCED Conference, the concept of SARD has evolved to include social, institutional and economic sustainability, as well as environmental sustainability.

This five-day conference on “Transforming Agricultural Extension in Africa” was held in Accra from 24-28 November 2003 as a follow-up to a similar worldwide conference in Washington D.C. last year. The focus was to exchange experiences in the fields of ‘Extension and Poverty Reduction’, Decentralization, and Public-Private Partnership in Agricultural Extension Delivery and Rural Development. This workshop was held under the auspices of the Ghana Ministry of Food and Agriculture supported by the German Development Corporation (GTz), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

This publication addresses the challenges faced by agricultural extension services in their provision of support to food security initiatives . The content of this booklet has been drawn from a major paper, “Agricultural Extension, Rural Development and Food Security Challenge”, written by William M. Rivera, Visiting Scholar, University of Maryland, College Park, USA and M. Kalim Qamar, Senior Officer (Agricultural Training and Extension), FAO Extension, Education and Communication Service. The authors address the dynamic role of agricultural extension services today.

All walnut species of the genus Juglans are trees or large shrubs having shoots with chambered piths, large aromatic compound leaves, staminate catkins on one year old wood and female flowers on the top of the current year's twigs. The husked fruit is a false drupe containing a large woody-shelled nut. All Juglans produce edible nuts, although size and extrability differ considerably. Most species are highly regarded for their timber. The genus Juglans consists of approximately 20 species grouped taxonomically into four sections: Rhysocaryon, Cardiocaryon, and Trachycaryon, Dioscaryon.

Azad Jammu and Kashmir is located in the north of Pakistan. Male migration in the region has resulted in crop farming and livestock raising and management becoming increasingly women's domain. According to a senior administrator at Azad Jammu and Kashmir's Department of Agriculture, livestock care and management is entirely in the hands of women in almost 90 percent of households. Similarly, women's participation is significant in farming-related operations such as harvesting and the cleaning and storing of major crops (wheat, maize, fodder, etc.).

In view of the future trends in agricultural extension worldwide (pluralism, decentralization, etc.), the purpose of this study is primarily to review and analyze the national policy and strategy of the public extension system, the on-going programmes and the various approaches to provide farming communities with necessary assistance. Based on the innovations in agricultural extension identified in different states of the country, it was possible to draw some preliminary lessons and make suggestions for policy reform taking into consideration emerging support needs of farmers in India.

The mandate of extension services, whether public or private, has always been rural human resources development with an aim to increase food production through the introduction of improved agricultural technology. The very survival of these human resources, both within the extension organization and among the clientele, however, is currently at stake due to the HIV/AIDS menace. Urgent and major efforts are needed by the extension services to prepare themselves for battle against the epidemic, to educate the farming population about the disease, and to develop new strategies to serve the extension needs of thousands of new entrants in farming.

This study examines the extension and training needs of disabled farmers in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The idea for the study arose when extension workers in the region noted the large number of Iran-Iraq War-disabled veterans returning to their villages to continue their earlier activities in the agricultural sector. In speaking to local extensionists, it became apparent that there was no special training for extension workers to assist these farmers with disabilities with their adjustment back to the agricultural sector.