An Emerging Model for a Farmer Information and Advisory Service for Russia
I.M. Mikhailenko
The breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991 resulted in the collapse of the centralized
“command and control” agricultural information
system that told farmers what to plant, when to plant it, and where to deliver
the harvest. During the 1990s, a new “Farmer Information
and Advisory Service” was launched as part of World Bank and other donor
projects. This resulted in the creation of a number of
different regional services, some connected with universities, some with agricultural
administrations, and some with training institutes.
These really constitute “fragments” created to suit regional needs rather
than potential models for a future national agricultural communication
and extension system. However, important lessons have been learned from these
experiments. Using experiences from other
countries and Russia’s recent experiences, a model for a new agricultural
communication and extension system is proposed that
would fit Russia’s unique agricultural structure and extensive geography.
Full text (pdf)
[Note from Eric Abbott: Following the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the
movement toward a market economy and the collapse of the existing centralized
“command and control” agricultural information system necessitated development
of a new national farmer information and advisory service. The old system
consisted of a centralized government bureaucracy that presented a uniform and
total information package specifying even the days when planting, cultivating
and harvesting should occur. The centralized system collapsed for two main reasons.
First, profit, rather than achievement of a production quota, became the driving
force in agriculture. When the central government stopped buying farm produce,
agricultural producers were forced to try to find goods they could produce and
a place to market them at a profit. With farms diversifying in terms of both size
and crop/livestock mixes, there was a tremendous increase in demand for agricultural
information. A centralized system geared to providing a single message and a very
limited scope of technologies was no longer suitable. Second, the centralized
system was no longer funded at a level that would permit it to continue to function.
It, along with traditional farm publications, radio and television programs
ceased operation. To address this problem, from 1995-2000, the World Bank Agriculture
Reform Implementation Support (ARIS) Project and other donor-funded projects led
to development of a variety of agricultural communication and extension organizations
and approaches. These came to be called “Farmer
Information and Advisory Services.” As occurred in the United States, these
early experiments with agricultural communication and extension systems led to
significant variations from state to state (oblast to oblast). In this article,
I.M. Mikhailenko, who directs the Farmer Information and Advisory Service in Leningradsky
Oblast serving the St. Petersburg region, reflects on what was accomplished during
the period, and presents his vision of what a future farmer information and advisory
service in Russia should look like.]
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