Project Overview
Annual Reports
Commodities
Practices
- Education and Training: decision support system, extension, focus group
Abstract:
A diverse group of agriculture practitioners was brought together to discuss and identify barriers to implementing sustainable agriculture programs within the PDP context, and to develop ideas about how to overcome the barriers. The planning meeting resulted in two outcomes: a letter to the PDP coordinating committee outlining a project to train PDP coordinators about sustainable agriculture which also requested that the target audience for PDP funding be expanded to include those not directly working with farmers (i.e. those who are responsible for "institutionalizing" PDP programs). Secondly, a draft proposal was developed to facilitate making linkages between Consumer and Food faculties and Cooperative Extension faculties.
Project objectives:
- Increased collaboration and information exchange among representatives of stakeholder groups (e.g. CES & NRCS staff, farmers and non-government organizations (NGOs)).
Establishment of belief ("buy-in") by stakeholders, through information exchange with their representatives in the planning process, in the objectives of the implementation proposal.
The primary objective of this project is an implementation proposal (a draft proposal is attached). Secondary objectives include the following:
The objectives of the implementation proposal are tentatively identified as:
- That traditional information providers (CES, NRCS field agents) become a primary delivery system for sustainable agriculture information.
That traditional information providers and non-traditional sources of sustainable agriculture information interact more effectively and make more frequent and effective use of each other's published materials.
CES agents in particular, consider out-of-state educational materials as usable resources to support their educational work in sustainable agriculture.