soil-conservation-people-religion-and-land.pdf - South West NRM
soil-conservation-people-religion-and-land.pdf - South West NRM
soil-conservation-people-religion-and-land.pdf - South West NRM
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Wider Use of Group Methods in Extension<br />
Advis~~ services faced with a wide ratio of advisors to<br />
l<strong>and</strong>hm&rs, should exploit the effectiveness of group extension<br />
methad;S::;irather than limiting their efforts largely to timeconsumihq<br />
one-to-one contacts <strong>and</strong> less effective mass media.<br />
while both the latter methods are appropriate to certain stages<br />
of the adoption process, group methods, including specialised<br />
study groups, have not been used to their full potential in most<br />
States.<br />
11. Continuina ducati ion for Field Staff<br />
Technological change <strong>and</strong> the increasing complexity of<br />
agricultural techniques has increased the need for in-service<br />
training of advisory staff. There is a need to maintain the<br />
credibility of field staff as perceived by l<strong>and</strong>holders, by wellplanned<br />
courses on integrated production systems using updated<br />
information on the most recent products, implements <strong>and</strong><br />
techniques. Without an intimate knowledge of modern<br />
methodology, advisory services will not achieve general<br />
acceptance.<br />
12. Use of Soil Conservation Consultants<br />
C<br />
Procedures should be developed to engage consultants <strong>and</strong><br />
contractors to speed up responses to requests for farm planning<br />
<strong>and</strong> <strong>soil</strong> <strong>conservation</strong>. A backlog of many months exists for<br />
action on requests from l<strong>and</strong>holders in some regions. At an<br />
estimated cost of $40-50 per hour to supply government advisory<br />
officers, consultants could make a significant contribution to<br />
meeting the dem<strong>and</strong> for <strong>soil</strong> <strong>conservation</strong> advice at competitive<br />
rates to the taxpayer.<br />
13. Home Studv Courses in Soil Conservation<br />
The National Soil Conservation Programme should initiate<br />
external courses in all States in consultation with educational<br />
institutions, Full use should be made of modern distance<br />
teaching techniques to bring effective home study to all<br />
interested l<strong>and</strong>holders. The nationally offered course by the<br />
Dar=5f Downs Institute gives useful indications of the<br />
stre<br />
- - -<br />
<strong>and</strong> weaknesses of a first attempt to meet this need.<br />
- -. =- -<br />
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14.