Efforts by colleges and universities

The college of agriculture of the National S. Eastern University took up work on cotton. A number of research stations were established in cotton producing provinces.

In 1924 university of Nanking established a division of extension.

Training in agriculture extension was also started in church – related institutions.

Lingnan University of Canton did outstanding research in seed selection, horticulture, soil analysis, insect control, crop rotation and home economics.

In 1934 Fukien Christian University established a Rural Service Centre in Foochow Fukein Province.

National Extension Service

In 1924, a national Extension Service was organised.

Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry was the central agency responsible for the planning and Administration and operating it on national level.

In 1943, the Chinese Agriculture Association drafted a preliminary outline for post-war agriculture reconstruction in China

• Nine Bureaus were created under the ministry of Agriculture, recommended by Chinese Agriculture Association. One among them is the Central Extension Office was to serve as the general headquarters of agriculture extension activities in the country.

It had four divisions:1. Agricultural coopration: covering agricultural production, processing, marketing, distribution, and farm insurance.

2. Land use: It dealt with planning and development, farm implements and irrigation.

3. Information division: for disseminating information on improved practices and ways of living.4. Coordination and Assistance: It had traveling demonstrations teams, each consists of SMSs, who kept close contact with different extension offices throughout the country.

People’s Republic of China:

It was independent in 1949 and began extension work as under:China’s First Five year Plan(1953-57): It aimed at laying a preliminary foundation for agriculture as a socialist enterprise.

Half of the 120 million peasant householders were to be incorporated into producer’s cooperatives.

Results were

Agriculture Production 23%Grain production 18 %Cotton 25%Soyabean 18%

Livestock Cattle 30% Horse 36% Dogs 54%Sheep and goats 83%

Second five year Plan (1958-62): Development of the national economy.

•The government announced the bill of Agricultural Extension in 1953.

• Afterwards, the Extension stations were set up in villages. Special, leading various stations were established in each region.

•The regions for the research and the examination of the agricultural technology were set in 1970's.

• However, farmer's contract system started in 1978.

•After wards, a area special, leading various stations became united Extension Centers in 1983. And, the national integrated station was established.

The law of Agricultural Extension was tried for ten years from 1984, and "Law of Agricultural Extension in China" was enacted in 1993

The rural reform started in early 1980s was mainly due to the implementation of the Rural Household Contract Responsibility System (RHCRS). This reform not only is essential to agricultural production and rural development, but also has great impact on agricultural extension.

With RHCRS, the old "People's Commune System" was abolished, farmers have the right to make independent decisions on using the small piece of contracted land, so they no longer have to listen to the directives of the cadres and government.

The clientele of extension becomes millions of rural households instead of the small number of communes, brigades, and production teams.

That implies previous extension methods are no longer relevant. Meanwhile, the extension system is seriously affected by financial shortages and lack of viability and other factors.

To sustain and strengthen the extension system so it can play an important role in agricultural development, significant reforms have been carried out.

The first reform was to establish a new type of extension system that combines

(1) technology experimentation, (2) demonstration, (3) extension, (4) training, and (5) commercial services (mainly supplying inputs).

Over-scattered extension agencies have been merged to build technical strength by using all available resources.

The priority of reorganization is to set up "County Agricultural Technology Extension Centers " (CATEC) by merging different stations of crop cultivation, plant protection and soil/fertilizer, and research institutes of county agricultural sciences and others.

Another goal was to improve and set up "Township Agricultural Technology Extension Stations" (TATES) and at the village level create "Agricultural Technology Demonstration Households" (ATDH).

Some villages, especially in developed areas, have also established service organizations.

Through 1992, 1,469 CATECs and about 45,000 TATESs have already been set up. They have played a considerable role in China's agricultural development.

This new system has four basic features: 1.It's under the leadership of government agricultural departments/ bureaus.

2.The system has two key functions- to provide technology extension and social services to the farming community.

3.It has CATECs as its focal point and works through supporting extension and farmer organizations at the townships and village levels.

4.The system is implemented by state extension personnel and by technicians paid by farmers and collectives (townships and villages).

A second reform to China's extension system was to implement payment for extension services such as "diagnosis and prescription" (clinical services) and "technology contracts."

Once a contract is signed between extension agencies and farmers (or sometimes townships and villages), the extension agencies are responsible for technical guidance, input supply and the yield (sometimes for marketing), and pay the loss due to technical failure.

Farmers are to do what is required by extension agents and pay the service fee to extension agencies according to the contract after harvest.

This extension approach of technology contracts is unique to China, and is popularly applied nationwide.

This tightly combines responsibility and economic interests for both extension agencies and farmers. The advantage is that farmers are assured of applying the techniques, and extension agents gain an incentive to serve farmers.

Extension agencies at the grassroot level also organize paid services such as unified plant protection and tillage through which technology is fully applied to farmers' land.

Still, to further vitalize extension organizations and overcome severe funding shortages, extension agencies, especially under county level, have found a way to "self-finance" or "self- develop" by running enterprises themselves. Most of these are agriculture-related businesses,

Rather than just relying on government financial allocation, extension organizations are able to accumulate economic strength to support or subsidize extension services delivered to farmers as well as to motivate extension agents.

Practices show that in China, free extension services aren't only too expensive to be funded by the government and create more bureaucracy in extension system, but also, even with very strict discipline, such services can't guarantee success.

The third reform to China's extension system is a shift from government dominate extension to cooperative extension.

That means, from the point of finance and organization, government- financed extension agencies are still the basis of the system. Collectively financed (paid by townships, villages, and farmers), extension staff and organizations at a grassroot level also play an important role.

Some related government agencies were established such as the Dept. of Education, the Commission of Science and Technology, and the Dept of Commerce, associations, farmers' technology clubs, and some agriculture-related enterprises, such as pesticide and plastic film manufacturers, also participate in agricultural extension.

But, of course, "cooperative extension" here is different from that of the United States.

Mainly because of low profitability, agriculture in many parts of China has become the sector for the old, weak, sick, and disabled for "employed farmers from poor regions."

As a result, agriculture is continually diminishing. However, agriculture in the Yangtse Delta isn't on the diminish, but is on the synchronous increase with rural enterprises.

The basic reason is that under the guidance of related national policy in recent years, effective measures have been implemented to solve the problems that can't be solved by rural households individually and to keep the farming sector updated by strengthening agricultural extension and rural social services.

By the end of 1990, 25% of cultivated area in the country was under technical contract.

Technical contracts are made between farmers and village economic cooperatives and a wide variety of offices and technical personnel from different administrative levels such as township and county extension stations, local agricultural technical schools, and agricultural colleges.

It's common for a county technical group to sign extension contracts with villages or farm families.

The technical group often is headed by a party (government) leader and includes members from the extension station, the supply and marketing cooperative, finance bureau, Agricultural Bank, and the local insurance company

In the 1980s, some common techniques extended to farmers through contracts included assistance for grain crops such as

proper sequencing of fertilizer applications for rice, ways to cultivate wheat under irrigated conditions, use of biological techniques to control insects damaging corn cropsuse of plastic mulch, and pesticide application.

In the 1990s, extension workers want to promote technology for fruit, vegetable, and cash crops; for animal husbandry (dairy, poultry, rabbit, and hog production); and aquatic output. In addition, they want to expand technical services for rural industry and food and livestock product processing.

The general policy governing compensation is that those receiving benefits should pay. A part of the increased production or income stemming from the addition of technology is returned to the technical contract service group.

In areas of China where rural enterprises are well-developed, cadres can pay the service fee from the "industry to support agricultural" fund, which is supported from profits of rural enterprises

In areas where specific extension item contracts are used, then 10% to 20% of the increase in revenues serves as payment for service fees. In poor areas, fees can be obtained from county government's finance bureaus.

Where specific extension item contracts are used for highly profitable economic crops such as vegetables and melons, they obtain the fees directly from farmers receiving the help.

If the output and economic returns can't reach the prescribed figures, the scientists (extension administration) have to make up the losses

The rapid expansion of technical contracts in China reflects fundamental changes in the rural economic system.

Before reforms were initiated in 1979, agricultural extension programs were pushed by government administrators.

After reforms began, farm families developed a keen interest in boosting output and reducing costs.

Before the reforms, individual farmers had little incentive to learn new production techniques; after reforms, they pursued agricultural specialists for help.

Agricultural technical contracts likely will accelerate the spread of technology, boost output, and change supply and demand conditions in China, which will affect U.S. agricultural trade.

Organisational set up of Agricultural Extension System in China

There is no one department responsible for the various functions of agricultural technology extension education and research.

These functions are distributed among the Ministry of Agriculture, the State Education Commission and the State Science and Technology Commission each of which is independent of the others.

The agricultural extension system was set up in the early 1950s.

Specialist extension agencies focus on agricultural crops, livestock, fisheries, agricultural mechanization and agricultural product marketing and each has its own administrative system.

China’s agricultural extension organizations are divided into agriculture, livestock, fisheries, mechanization and marketing organizations.

At present there are 1,85,000 extension agencies and over 13,00,000 people are employed as extension agents.

There are extension agencies at each level from central government to the townships.

Fisheries extension agencies only exist down to the county level, while agricultural technology extension has reached right down to the village level.

There are 180,484 villages with agricultural technology service teams made up of 700,000 technology service personnel.

There are also farmer-initiated organizations that have set up their own extension system within the association.

Currently there are almost 150,000 specialist technical associations with over 5 million member households, almost 2%of all rural households in the country.

The largest extension system is the agricultural crop extension system.

The focus of the agricultural extension network is the county and township levels. By 1994 there were 1842 extension stations at the county level and thus covering about 75%of counties. These serve as the backbone of the extension network.

In September 1995 the National Agricultural Technology Extension Station, National Pest Control Station, National Seed Station and National Soil Fertility Station were merged to form the National Agricultural Technology Extension Service Centre.

This Centre is a service agency under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and is responsible for organizing, implementing and managing agricultural extension work nation wide.

Local government at each level also supervises extension work of these extension agencies.

The function of the extension agencies is: to extend technology and provide services and to provide guidance through education and through the extension channels to implement the government plans and realize economic benefits for the farmers.

The grassroots level extension system County/township rural economy management station

County levelEach Centre is made up of several specialty-focused units :

grain and oil crop technology station cash crop technology station and plant protection technology station the pest monitoring station soil fertility station including soil testing laboratory agricultural product processing station seed breeding station technical training department experimentation and demonstration site technical consultation service department and administrative office.

The main tasks of the Centres are to undertake experiments, demonstrations, providing training and services and to set up related enterprises.

District Level

In some provinces below the county level, there are also district agricultural technology stations which are an outpost of the county centres and which cover

rain crop,cash crop, plant protection, soil fertility and information specialties.

Their main tasks are

to demonstrate new technologies

to guide and monitor the township extension agencies and the non- governmental technology organizations.

Town Level

The township agricultural technology extension station is governed by the township government and is a comprehensive service unit.

Since 1987 these centres have been constituted through the merging of the township seed station, plant protection station, soil fertility station and agricultural technology station.

They receive guidance from the district or county centres and their main task is to work with demonstration households

to perform demonstrations to guide and to monitor the extension agencies and non-governmental technology associations within their area to report production and extension data to superior levels.

Village Level

The vilage service organizations are mostly constituted on the basis of the former production brigades and teams.

In wealthier areas most villages have set up all sorts of different service organizations.

production input service groups plant protection groupsgrain seed groupsagricultural technology groupsagricultural mechanisation groups and hydro power groups.

At the end of 1990, nationwide there were 419,000 specialized service groups.

Some village committees have created the post of farmer technician and some have a full time deputy village leader who acts as agricultural technician.

Villager groups have technology demonstration households which are selected from among middle school graduates and middle-aged villagers with relatively more practical experience.

Under the guidance of the extension workers they are the first to adopt new technologies and to demonstrate them to the surrounding households.

The tasks of technology deputy township governors, farmer technicians, technology service groups and demonstration households are

• to assist the county, district and township stations • to lead the farmers improve the management of their fields • to ensure that suitable technologies are adopted by local farmers.

There are currently around 8,00,000 farmer technicians and 7million demonstration households in China.

Funding of agricultural extension

Agricultural extension funds come from mainly three sources.government funds project funds. income generated by enterprises set up by extension agencies which is used to supplement funds for extension

County levelAccording to the 1996 sample survey, county agricultural extension agencies derive 60%of the funds of come from funds disbursed by the government 20% from Project funds and 20%from these agencies own revenue generating activities

Township level the township government disbursements account for 37% project funds are only 0.44% and other income makes up 60% most of which derives from income generation activities.

Shortage of funds at the county and township levels has become a main constraint

Agricultural technology extension approaches and methods

There are three agricultural technology extension approaches that are currently widely used.

Individual methods: interviewing farmers, consulting, issuing trust cards and working with demonstration households.

Group methods: training classes and workshops, experience exchange on-site meetings, field visits, competitions, technology contracting, project-based extension pest clinics, technology markets, demonstration fields, field experiments and demonstrations of results and methods, township group meetings and village technology meetings.

Mass extension methods : radio and television broadcasts, movies, videos, slide shows, magazines, technical information dissemination, newspapers, books, issuing instruction cards or booklets advertisements and exhibitions.

The most focused methods on farmers are the on-site demonstrations, field visits and interviews, village meetings, consultancy services and mass media, short-term training classes, competitions and awards.

Training classes including long-term training workshops and training workshops on complex technical operations are the most commonly used methods.

Extension approaches can also be divided into remunerated and non-remunerated services. Traditional technology extension services were mostly non- remunerated. The state disbursed funds to set up extension agencies and their staff provided free services to the farmers.

In the processes of establishing the socialist market economy in some areas the funds for extension services were severely cut and such services were pushed into the market.

Remunerated services have become commercialized such as soil sample analysis for which the farmer pays the technician a fee.

Unless the technology realizes large economic returns then most farmers are unwilling to pay for services and this limits the effectiveness of extension through remunerated services.

Project-based extension: bumper harvest programme – greenhouse vegetable integrated planting technology , integrated rural development projects

Commercialization of agricultural technology : ex: agricultural technology agencies raise rice seedlings on a commercial scale

Agricultural Mechanization: Development of Service Center soil fertility stations

Establishment of technology markets: Product processing technologies as well as products and skills are exchanged.

PROBLEMS

Vertical relations are not smooth within the system

Insufficient coordination between extension agencies and the research institutions.

Lack of supporting regulations for organizational development

Funds for extension equal only 0.18%of the total value of output of the agricultural sector .

Grass root extension workers are often taken from their posts by local government to engage in tasks unrelated to extension which influences their professional work.

Not all agencies within the system have full control over their own personnel

The five main specialized organizations have institutional problems.

Problems in service provision of staff.

Inappropriate knowledge and skills of extension staff. There are very few extension workers with a broad range of knowledge of different aspects of extension work and even fewer with experience of marketing issues. Information is slow to flow within the agricultural sector and many staff lack knowledge of new technologies and issues

Technical extension is often influenced by administrative leaders who pursue economic targets in order to display the performance of the local government

There is a lack of potential supportive policies for the commercialization of technology and establishment of marketing service companies.

There are no policies that allow such businesses to purchase, process and sell grain seeds