As agricultural cooperation between China and Canada goes more extensive, Small Farmers Adapting to Global Markets Project (SFAGM Project) has expanded its area of implementation in western China. For the purpose of extending the successful training experience to other provinces in western China, the SFAGM Project conducted a Crop TOT workshop in Yinchuan, Ningxia on June 1-7, 2008. There were 34 participants who came from 8 provinces or autonomous regions in this training. And a dozen or so extension workers from Ningxia Provincial Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry audited this new type of training.

At the opening ceremony, Wang Ling, the chief agrarian from Ningxia Provincial Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, introduced the general situation of agriculture in Ningxia and expressed his welcome to the training workshop. Kevin Chen, Manager of SFAGM Project, introduced the background and current situation of China-Canada Agriculture Development Program, and explained the important significance of launching this project in Ningxia. While talking about the ways of training for farmers, Kevin Chen said that this new training mode, compared with the traditional mode which takes the number of people as an index of evaluation, is more effective, more welcomed by farmers, and more suitable with the current agricultural technology extension system in China.

During the one-week training, the participants shared the success experience of the project areas, learned the features and special techniques of adult education, discussed the different modes of agricultural extension, and visited the agricultural facilities in Yongning County, Yinchuan City. This training workshop in Ningxia received great attention and strong support from Ningxia Provincial Department of Agriculture and Animal Husbandry, and brought good experience from different areas. It is of great importance for the next step of the project.
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