U.S. Agricultural Extension Services in Urban and Rural Areas

November 30, 2013 02 edition
source: farmers Daily

cao Chengyi

all universities in the United States are engaged in research and education, but hundreds of land-grant colleges and universities have a third mission-promotion. "Promotion" means "reaching out". While teaching and research, land-grant colleges use their resources to meet the needs of the public through informal, non-credit projects.

These projects are mainly implemented by the county and district extension offices of land-grant colleges, and the co-organizer is the federal partner in the cooperative extension system-the American Institute of Food and Agriculture. As the national program leader, the American Food and Agricultural Research Institute plays a key role in the promotion task, determining how to use the annual congressional funding method to determine national priorities and timely supplement national and county extension funds.

A century ago, the United States Congress created the extension system to specialize in rural and agricultural affairs. At that time, more than half of Americans lived in rural areas, and 30% of them worked in agriculture, and the introduction of extension programs into rural areas led to the agricultural revolution in the United States, resulting in a significant increase in agricultural productivity.

Today, although less than 2 percent of Americans earn their living from farming and only 17 percent live in rural areas, extension services still play an important role in different areas of American life-rural, urban and suburban. There are approximately 3000 counties in the United States with extension services throughout the country, and most counties have extension offices in or near them. The instructors in charge of extension help farmers grow crops, help homeowners plan repairs, and teach their children skills that will help them grow.

Although the rural population in the United States has declined and the importance of the rural economy has declined, the U.S. cooperative promotion system still plays an important role. In addition to solving rural problems, it is also increasingly involved in urban and suburban problems. It also caters to the changes in information technology in the United States and establishes "National Online".

Generally speaking, after a century of development, American agricultural extension has adapted to the changes of the times, and constantly meets the needs of human, plant and animal in urban and rural areas. At present, agricultural extension work mainly focuses on six important areas:

4H Youth Development-Develop important life skills for young people, shape their character, and help them make the right life and career choices. To guide young people to participate in the school's retention and strengthening projects, through practical projects and activities, let young people learn science, mathematics and other knowledge and related social skills.

In agriculture-research and education programs help farmers to work in different enterprises and improve the market. Marketing strategies and management skills enable farmers to learn new ways to open up income channels; help farmers and farmers improve production efficiency through resource management, crop pest control, soil testing, livestock production practices and marketing.

Leadership Development-Training extended service professionals and volunteers to take leadership roles in the community by extending programs to horticulture, health and safety, family and consumer, and 4H youth development.

Natural Resources-Use educational programs to educate landowners and homeowners on how to use natural resources wisely and protect the environment, such as water quality, wood management, composting, lawn waste management and recycling.

Family and Consumer Science-teaches families the skills of food preparation, proper child care skills, and family communication, financial management, and health care strategies to help each family lead a vibrant and healthy life.

Community and economic development-help local governments to conduct surveys and identify feasible economic and community development decisions, such as job creation and retention improvement, small and medium-sized enterprise development, effective and coordinated emergency response, solid waste disposal, tourism development, personnel education and land use planning.

Man of Feeding