My Personal Experience with the Study Tour to Canada

I feel it an honor to be able to participate in the “Training for Grassroots-level Technology Extension Workers of Gansu Province”, which was organized by the Sustainable Agriculture Development Program (SADP) Phase II and which was held in Canada between July 21 and September 15, 2007. During this period of time, we worked together with Canadian extension workers in Manitoba and Saskatchewan, and learned Canada’s advanced experience in technical extension of agriculture and animal husbandry. The main contents include: participatory training activities in field schools and animal husbandry schools; agricultural technology extension and plain farm rehabilitation administrations at the provincial, county and township levels; agricultural research institutes and educational agencies such as food R&D center, agriculture and rural economy research institute, meat cattle research institute and Manitoba University, etc.; companies of agricultural products such as processing factories of grass products, bee honeys, forage grasses and seeds, pig farms, and manufacturers of small-sized farming machines and tools, etc. And another key event was to visit farmers and communities, including meat cattle raisers, meat sheep raisers, deer raisers, bee keepers, meat cattle auction marketplaces, and township veterinary stations, etc.

I.  My Impression of Canada
Canada is a very beautiful country, with vast territory and sparse population, and many places are still in a primitive state, without being obviously disturbed by human beings. It has abundant natural resources, especially forest resources and water resources. Forest covers almost half of its land, which is dotted with rivers and lakes, clean and tidy everywhere. Canada has a very small population against its vast territory. Agricultural labor force accounts for only 2% of its total population, or only 4.3% or so of its total labor force, and the per capita arable land is over 2,000 mu. Therefore, Canada’s agricultural mechanization level and productivity are very high. Canadians are friendly, easy-going and approachable. They are polite, but not care about formalities. Everywhere we went, whether at Kevin’s home (Kevin is a project expert of CIDA), or at the conjunction of roads or at the gate of our hotel, we saw people behaving politely and modestly. Canada is an developed country. People live a well-off life and enjoy a free medical care. Over 90% of families have telephones, TV sets and cars. Over 60% of families have private houses, and some also have a country house at the same time.

II. My Feeling and Perception of the Training
1. Prairie Farm Rehabilitation Administration (PFRA) of Canada and Agricultural Technology Extension Center of Manitoba attached great importance to this study tour training. In particular, those who were in charge of organizing this training — Kevin, a project expert of SADP and his wife Bev, Dan, a staff with PFRA, Fraser, an expert who had retired from Agricultural Technology Extension Center of Manitoba and his wife Bev, as well as Hans, did a lot of work to arrange for us to visit the demo sites, and gave us as much help and care as possible in our daily life.

2. Canada has large-scaled and widely spread agricultural technology research and extension agencies, and all these agencies have close connections with training of farmers. They are closely linked together through field schools, animal husbandry schools and farmer associations, and they jointly undertake the work of agricultural technology research and extension in Canada.

3. As a highly developed country in agriculture and a major producer of food in the world, Canada has a very strong awareness of environmental protection and food safety, thinking that the damage to the environment is difficult to recover. Therefore, there is no litter visible anywhere in Canada, whether in urban areas or in rural areas. Meanwhile, related government departments conduct regular monitoring of soil and water in all the production areas and phases of agriculture and animal husbandry as a result of chemical fertilization and the changed ways of land use. On the other hand, research institutes conduct research of the trace elements accumulated in crops that are harmful to consumers. Some farmers have started to register and produce organic products. With regard to those areas where soil is infertile and is likely to cause the loss of water and land, PFRA will adopt incentive policies, provide subsidies for seeds or saplings, and guide farmers to change their traditional farming ways, and instead, manage grassland animal husbandry or plant trees.

4. In Canada, an agricultural technology research institute operates like a business. The patent of a product or a technology belongs to an entrusted company or individual, and a technical task is entrusted to a company or individual for the purpose of improving product quality or production efficiency. This, to a considerable degree, determines that research directly serves production.

5. The agricultural technology extension agency conducts work in flexible ways, and its main contents of work are to promote and demonstrate some types of crops, technologies, and provide training and guidance. Its contents of extension and demonstration come from three sources: (1) from local farmer associations, which hold a meeting at the end of every year to get to know the needs of local farmers; (2) from enterprises, where company products need to be demonstrated and promoted; and (3) the latest achievements of research institutes. The ways of extension include: (1) Conduct on-site demonstration in field schools and animal husbandry schools, and answer some of the questions raised by farmers; (2) some research results are informed to farmers in the forms of advertisements; and (3) if a farmer takes interest in a technology or product, the extension agency will send specialists to give face-to-face technical guidance.

6. The marketable degree of agriculture and animal husbandry is high in Canada. In Manitoba alone, there are 8 auction sites of meat cattle. The purchasers can go to the site or buy via the Internet, without having to go through the middle agents, thus ensuring a transparent and fair deal, and fully safeguarding the farmers/herders’ interests.

7. In Canada, the demonstration of technical extension starts with children. First, there is a 4H (HEAD, HEART, HAND and HELTH) program, which encourages farmers’ children to raise cattle or sheep under the assistance of parents, and participate in contests and auctions organized by the auction center. The winners will be rewarded with prizes, thus cultivating children’s awareness of business management and their capability of physical labor. Second, research institutes and extension agencies normally distribute some publicity materials or booklets to schoolchildren, who forward them to farmers. This, virtually, is also a process of publicity to schoolchildren. Third, during our study tour, we happened to find a middle school opening a new semester, and we were invited to visit this school. Apart from all the necessary modern teaching facilities, this school is also equipped with a state-of-the-art recreational hall and an indoor basketball court. More importantly, apart from the normal cultural and educational facilities, this school is also equipped with an experimental workshop for carpentry, a sewing workshop for training purpose and a cooking workshop for training purpose, thus cultivating students’ interest and their capability of physical labor while they are at childhood.

8. In Canada, the agencies and the people involved in agricultural technology extension pay great attention to farmers’ piloting and leading roles. The operating process is: To instruct 20% of farmers who in turn will instruct and bring along the remaining 80% of farmers. It is the same process in both field schools and animal husbandry schools. On the demo site, farmers used their own experience as an example to answer other farmers’ questions, representing the public idea of “to see is to believe” and the spirit of participatory training, and achieving twice the result for half the effort. Meanwhile, they particularly pay attention to technical training for young farmers. A farmer under 30, upon making an application, will be funded by related government departments to go to a college or university to receive professional training.

III. The Methods of Extension Useful to China
1. In view of the Chinese reality of big population and limited arable land, we should encourage and assist farmer associations and professional cooperatives, and foster the trading market of agricultural products to make it grow quickly and strongly and become a tie between the government and the farmers, enabling agricultural production to embark on the road of scaled, industrialized and market-oriented production.

2. In terms of extension and demonstration of agricultural technology, first, we should draw on Canada’s participatory method, letting farmers play the principal part and the government focuses on organizing and selecting the pilot points. And second, in the construction and cultivation of the pilot points, use the 20/80 principle as a reference, gather all the forces to construct and cultivate a small number of top pilot sites, and farmers of these pilot sites instruct other farmers who have come to visit and study. Thus, agricultural technology extension will enter a quicker lane for development.

3. With regard to technologies at different phases of production, the business units will choose tentatively cooperative farmers to experiment with them, collect data, select suitable technologies and products for extension, and avoid imposing uniformity in all cases without considering natural and geographical conditions.

4. In terms of training for farmers/herders, invite technical specialists, as well as capable people involved in agriculture and animal husbandry, to offer training courses to the trainees, for they have common words, which makes it more convenient for trainers and trainees to communicate and understand each other. Strengthen the exchange of information with farmer associations and professional cooperatives. Under the current circumstances, it is possible to hand out a form for soliciting information to get to know farmers’ actual needs in technology, that is, to train farmers according to their needs.

5. Strengthen cooperation with research institutes and institutions of higher learning, conduct technology transfer and exchange to make scientific research and technical extension perfectly combined, and encourage research results to be transformed into actual productivity as soon as possible, in order to make scientific research really serve the production.

My Summary of the Study Tour to Canada

I was lucky enough to be selected by Gansu Project Office, the Sustainable Agriculture Development Program (SADP) and participated in a 56-day training workshop for grassroots-level extension workers of agriculture and animal husbandry, which was held in Canada. Thanks to the assistance and guidance of agricultural technical experts of China and Canada, I completed the training tasks smoothly and obtained a certificate of completion. Below is my summing-up of this training work.

I. Overview of the training
A major feature of this training was the combination with field visits, interviews and discussions. We visited some field schools organized by Department of Agriculture Manitoba, as well as some universities, research institutes, agencies for extension of agricultural technology, dairy farms and processing enterprises of agricultural products in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. We experienced the cultural life of Canadian people, met many technical extension workers and farmers, conducted discussions and interviews with them, and got to know the research results of some agricultural technologies, the direction of development, as well as the advanced management methods and agricultural technology extension methods. The key points we have learned include grassland management, raising and fattening of meat cattle (sheep), agricultural machinery, zero-tillage technology, processing of agricultural products and foodstuffs, new technologies and new products of agriculture and animal husbandry, operating ways of farmer associations, protection of agricultural environment, and development of rural energies, etc. We obtained large quantity of information and knowledge, and mastered some advanced ideas of management and methods of extension, which benefited us a lot, not only broadening our eyeshot, but also enriched our knowledge. Particularly after nearly two months of training, my spoken English improved significantly, enabling me to communicate in simple English.

II. What I Have Learned from the Training
As a grassroots-level agricultural technology extension worker, I participated in the whole process of the training, took an active part in the discussions and interviews, and thus obtained a systematic and perceptual knowledge of the research of agricultural application and promotion of sustainable agricultural technology in Canada. My experience in and my understanding of the training can be summed up in the following aspects.

1. In terms of cultural life
1) Canadian people are enthusiastic, friendly, equal-minded and trustworthy. They have a strong awareness of law, and thus are able to abide by law and social order self-consciously, for example, abiding by traffic rules, queuing up when shopping and waiting to be served, etc.

2) Canadian people have a strong awareness of environmental protection. They pay much attention to environmental protection, groups or individuals. Not only the government exercises a strict administration ranging from strict examination and supervision when building a house to the categorization of wastes, or from the use of chemical fertilizers to the treatment of wastewater and the discharge of exhaust air, but also every citizen can supervise over one another and protect the environment self-consciously. Nobody litters, and every household puts wastes into bags in categories and delivers them to a nearby waste treatment site.

3) Canada has obvious advantages in natural conditions. It has a vast territory, abundant resources, especially numerous lakes and rivers, large areas of forests, plenty of minerals, aquatic products, energy sources and agricultural resources, large numbers of which are exported to other countries. With a small population, a big size of arable land and a high degree of mechanization, Canada is known as “the Barn of North America”, and half of its agricultural products are exported to other countries. Of the farmers we have visited, each household has a minimum of over 2,000 mu and a maximum of 40,000 mu.

4) Canada has a good personnel system. A man is employed according to his ability, rather than his connections. If an able man is not employed in a job competition, he can complain to the labor union organization. If he proves himself to be a really able man, the labor union organization has the right to request the employer to employ him.

2. In terms of agricultural technology extension
1) The agricultural technology extension is conducted in a cooperative and flexible way, with a very good effect. The agricultural departments in Canada pay attention to cooperation with universities, research institutes, enterprises and farmer associations. Every summer, they organize farmers to visit field experiments and compare the experiments of different varieties (including the varieties of crops and the varieties of domesticated animals), and in winter, they organize farmers to make indoor discussions, ask questions, find ways and raise suggestions to solve all kinds of difficulties and problems, and identify the plans for growing crops and raising animals next year. Get all sides united, give a full play of all their strengths, and avoid the situation that each acts on his own, as well as the repetitive and inefficient extension.

2) Every year, training in animal husbandry schools or field schools for four days or so is conducted. By advertising, organize extension workers, farmers and representatives of enterprises to receive training together, exchange information and share knowledge. This method is very effective and widely welcomed by farmers. The idea of “to see is to believe” is easy to be accepted by farmers.

3) Finding successful farmers to conduct the extension work is easier and more effective than government extension workers who directly go in for extension. Normally, farmers do not believe government extension workers. Even if government extension workers talk themselves dry to try to promote advanced agricultural technology, most farmers do not believe them; they would rather believe people of their own circles (farmers). We interviewed a successful farmer (named Mark), who spread his success experience and knowledge quickly to other farmers, enabling the government work of agricultural technology extension to be extended with the help of successful farmers. In this way, the extension is fast and the effect is good. There are many successful cases like this one.

4) The roles of the farmer association or the board of directors have been brought into full play. A bridge between the government and the farmers, between the farmers and the market, has been built up. In Canada, farmer associations are widespread and independent, not to be intervened by the government. Particularly in the infrastructure construction for agricultural technology extension, after the association discusses and proposes a program, and after approval from the government, the national government will provide subsidiary funds, the farmer association organizes the implementation, and the provincial government supervises over the implementation, thus solving some practical problems and difficulties for farmers, like the electric fence, the rent of agricultural machines, the extension of zero-tillage technology, etc.

3. In terms of government policy support
1) In Canada, the applied research of agriculture focuses on the safety, health and environmental issues of new products. To deal with problems such as cadmium residues in agricultural products, discharge of greenhouse gas and pollution of water sources by phosphorus, the government allocates large amount of money to support the applied research in this direction in order to strengthen the competitiveness of agricultural products export and ensure food safety and health for people.

2) The government attaches great importance to food safety and make laws to ensure that all agricultural products must have a label of food nutrients. No products are allowed to go to the market without this label.

3) The government makes policies to support self-employment of young farmers. Any self-employed young farmer can apply to start a project and each project is subsidized with 4,000 Canadian dollars. The agricultural departments provide support for young farmers to develop new types of food and go to the market. This incentive policy proves to be very good, for it encourages young farmers to start new business and change the situation actively.

III. Plan after Returning back to China
1. Be active to spread Canada’s advanced management ideas and methods of sustainable agriculture development. By combining with the ongoing project, help the pilot villages to establish a herder association for grassland management. By using the participatory method, enable farmers to manage democratically and make decisions democratically, thus promoting a sustainable development of grassland animal husbandry in our county.

2. Draw on the success experience of Canada’s field schools and animal husbandry schools, and provide training for farmers/herders in our county, thus increasing the actual effect of training.

3. Find successful farmers/herders and ask them to use their own experiences to assist government departments of agricultural technology extension to promote advanced methods and technologies of agriculture and animal husbandry, making agricultural technology extension achieve better result.

4. Be active to give advice and make suggestions, so as to attract the attention of superior leaders and related departments. Increase the quality of agricultural products, and strengthen the food safety management and ecological protection, in order to safeguard people’s health and promote a sustainable development of agriculture and animal husbandry.