Features of the extension institutional system in Hungary

Székely, Erika

Keywords: agriculture, extension, knowledge, transfer of information, services

Agricultural extension has remarkable traditions in Hungary. The main purpose of these services is to promote efficient and profitable farming activity by transmitting the most recent information and knowledge to farmers. There are big gaps in the profession al skills of domestic farmers. Differences are observed not only in respect of the level of qualification of the farm leaders, but also in the farm size and the success of their oper ation. An efficient advisory system should eliminate the inadequacies and reduce these differences. The requirements of an efficient system are only partially met in Hungary; the existing structure needs intervention in several areas such as regarding the division of tasks between service providers, the expertise of advisors, the low rate of demand for the services and the effectiveness of the advisory system. The transformation of the advi sory activities into market-driven services would best contribute to improving their effi ciency. For this purpose, in the short term, it is necessary to identify the services that may be provided free of charge or in return for payment, to reduce the number of service pro viders, eliminate parallel activities of the service providers participating in advising, to strengthen the relationships among the participants, to conduct research adjusted to the needs, to ensure stricter co-operation between education, research and extension and to provide services adjusted to the users’ needs.

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