History

History of Extension and the Enabling Environment

Agricultural Society of Hrubieszow in Poland was established in 1816, which in 1918 became Trade and Agricultural Cooperative Society. The initiation of formal extension service in Poland is reportedly tied up with the recruitment of an agricultural lecturer in 1883 who was required to annually deliver 100 to 150 lectures and make visits to about 80 farms.  In 1908, five (5) agricultural instructors were employed by agricultural companies, a number that grew to 200 by 1919. In 1911, an animal breeding specialist was recruited, and in 1918, an instructor was employed to cover rural women issues. In 1918, when Poland gained independence, “social agronomy’ was the discipline under which information on improved agricultural technologies was disseminated to potential users.  

During the period between the First and Second World Wars, the agricultural chambers actively provided extension services especially to agricultural cooperatives. Between 1918 and 1928, three agricultural chambers existed in the provinces of Pomerania, Greater Poland, and Silesia. By 1934, such chambers were established in all the provinces. After the Second World War, the agricultural chambers and the local extensions services were merged to form Peasant Self-help Unions. By 1967, these unions had about 5,000 agronomists, working at the municipality level.

In 1970, Regional Agricultural Research Centers (RRZD) were established, whose mandate was to develop and introduce modern agricultural methods to the farmers, and for this purpose  agricultural extension service units were formed within the centers. These regional centers were transformed into provincial Centers of Agricultural Progress (WOPR). Their responsibilities were professional capacity building, and provision of extension services to farmers and state agricultural farms. In 1976, as many as 17,000 staff worked at the WOPRs.

Unlike other European countries under the Soviet Block where huge state-operated farms and state-controlled cooperatives were run by teams of agronomists and where no public extension service existed, Poland did have a viable public extension service. The communist era in Poland came to an end in 1989, and a new government was established, which embarked on extension institutional reforms. The reform process was financially and technically supported by the USAs, Denmark, Ireland, Germany, Austria, and The Netherlands.

In 1990, all district level agricultural extension services were replaced by 49 Provincial Agricultural Advisory Centers (ODRs – Osrodek Doradztwa Rolniczego) whose program priorities were issues related to agricultural economics, marketing and information. In ensuing years, other topics like social welfare advisory service, development of agricultural entrepreneurship, multi-disciplinary rural development, rural institutional leadership, community development, and organic farming were added to the program. One of the reforms was training of advisors in the economic aspects of agriculture, which was provided at large scale, starting 1991, under the Polish-American Extension Project. Under this project that was implemented from 1990 to 1995 and was evaluated as one of the most successful projects, more than 100 American professionals from 31 U.S. land-grant universities provided technical assistance. As many as 70 extension specialists representing 26 States completed one or more six-month long field assignments as advisors at the Provincial Agricultural Advisory Centers (ODRs), which greatly strengthened these institutions to assist the farmers particularly in the preparation of agri-business plans.

The World Bank financed an Agricultural Development Project (about 1991-2010). The project was designed to support the private farmers and promote other private sector activities in rural areas, primarily through the restructuring of high-priority rural cooperatives including cooperative banks. Other projects in Poland financed by the World Bank include Rural Development Project (2000-2005), and Post-Accession Rural Support Project (2006-2009).

Under the EU Regulation (EC) 1782/2003 Article 13, by the 1^st of January 2007, the Member States were obliged to individually set up a system of advising farmers on land and farm management (Farm Advisory System or FAS) operated by one or more designated authorities or private bodies. This measure was to provide statutory management requirements (SMR) and good agricultural and environmental conditions (GAECS).

According to the Rural Development Program (2007-2013) of Poland, advisory services are being provided by public and private institutions, and the costs of services are being met mainly by the government’s own resources and partly through the Rural Development Fund. A number of other public and non-public advisory service providers have become active in Poland (examples: agricultural chambers that were re-established in 1996, individual consultants and advisors, agricultural inputs’ firms, commodity trading companies, branch unions, commodity-specific associations, civil society institutions, banks, agricultural schools, agricultural research institutes, and agricultural universities).

The Provincial Advisory Centers (ODRs) were granted legal status in 2005, which authorizes them to charge the clients for certain services. Later, in 2009, they were placed under the provincial assemblies, making the agricultural advisory services of Poland a partially decentralized, semi-autonomous system.

Ongoing relevant projects: Other than financial and technical assistance in support of the Polish agricultural extension and advisory services provided by the USA and the World Bank, described earlier, three ongoing projects are worth mentioning as they will contribute to the strengthening of the extension and advisory system in Poland:

1. “CEKIN – Agricultural Schools”, funded by UNDP (United Nations Development Program) is of about four-year duration. It was started in 2010 with the main aim of developing means for both students and teachers in rural areas to enhance their creativity, entrepreneurship and risk-taking skills. Important issues addressed by the project include: modern education in rural areas; ecological farming; job creation, including non-agricultural jobs; renewable energy sources; use of ICTs in rural education; innovative forms of engagement of rural residents; and use of EU funds.
2. PRO AKIS (December 2012-May 2015) www.proakis.eu is a European research and action initiative that investigates agricultural advisory services within the context of Agricultural Knowledge and Information Services (AKIS). Several partner institutions from EU Member States including Germany, United Kingdom, France, Portugal, Poland, Bulgaria, and Denmark are involved in this project. The partner institution from Poland is the Uniwersytet Rolniczy im. Hugona Kollataja (UAK). The project is funded as a coordination and support action under the 7^th European Framework Program.
3. Baltic Deal is a flagship project in the EU Strategy in the Baltic Sea Region. The partner countries in this project are Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Denmark. The project’s objective is to put best agricultural practices into work. In 2012, Poland had 48 Baltic Deal demonstration farms (raising crops and livestock), the smallest being of 7.5 hectares and the biggest of 1,703 hectares. Also, during 2012, 16 workshops were held in Poland on various agricultural topics for farmers and advisors.

Extension Providers

Public Institutions

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

The Ministry of Agriculture and Development has overall responsibility for providing public extension and advisory services to the farmers. This responsibility is carried out through the following organizational structure covering the national, provincial, county and municipality levels:

Board of Advisory Service
(also called as Social Council for Agricultural Extension): The Ministry has a Board of Advisory Service, comprising 11 representatives (two from the Ministry, two from the National Council of Agricultural Chambers, four from farmers’ trade unions, and one each from universities, research and development institutions, and the Convent of Marshals). The Board is attached to the Agricultural Advisory Center, located at Brwinow (CDR).

Agricultural Advisory Center, Brwinow (CDR – Centrum Doradztwa Rolniczego)
 The CDR, which is administratively under the Ministry, was established in 1947. It has three branch centers one each located in Krakow, Poznan, and Radom. The CDR has the following responsibilities:

• Provide training in cross-compliance matters;
• Conduct tests in cross-compliance matters;
• Monitor and control the quality of advisory services;
• Maintain database of certified agricultural advisors;
• Maintain database of certified agri-environmental advisors; and
• Prepare manuals and training materials for advisors and farmers.  

The CDR prepares the annual advisory program based on the plans prepared at the state level in consultation with the members of the Board of Advisory Service. CDR maintains active collaboration with public and non-public stakeholders such as provincial ODRs, agricultural research institutes, farmers’ associations, universities, and agricultural chambers.

Provincial (Voievod) Advisory Service Centers (ODRs – Wojewodzkie Osrodki Doradztwa Rolniczego)
There are 16 Provincial Advisory Centers, which were recently established and are administratively under the provincial governments headed by governors. Each ODR has its own website, and is engaged in the provision of agricultural extension support to the farmers, dissemination of information on new technologies, adult education for farming families, and problem solving in rural areas. A typical ODR comprises the departments of agricultural production systems; rural development; economics and farm management; ecology and environmental measures; methodology, education and training; and publication and information.

Provincial Boards of Advisory Service
Each province (voievodship) has its own Board of Advisory Service, which is attached to the Provincial Advisory Center. The Board is composed of 10 representatives of various stakeholders.

Local Advisory Team (County/poviat level)
A Local Advisory Team exists in each of the 308 counties, which functions under the Provincial Advisory Center.

Advisor (Municipality/Commune/gmina level)
There is one Advisor based at each municipality/commune.

Human resources in public extension and advisory services

Different sources indicate different number of extension staff in different years. The following description provides a reasonably good picture of the human resources situation in the public extension and advisory services of Poland from 2006 to 2013:

• In 2006, approximately 5,600 persons were employed in the public advisory service institutions. Out of these, 2,950 agricultural advisors covered about 1.85 million agricultural enterprises, i.e. each advisor covering about 470 farm households (Source: Comparison of Existing “Agriculture Advisory Services” to Requirements for FAS (Poland). PowerPoint presentation by Henryk Skornicki, Radom Branch of the Agricultural Advisory Center, Brwinow; May, 2006).
• In 2009, the total number of agricultural extension advisors in all 16 provinces combined was 3,803 (Source: Organization of Agricultural Extension in Poland; paper authored by Jozef Kania, University of Agriculture at Krakow; December 2010).
• In 2010, the total number of agricultural advisors was 4,213 including 4,074 in public bodies and 139 in private firms. In addition, there were 1,703 agri-environmental advisors (Source: Current Situation of the Agricultural Advisory Service in Poland. PowerPoint presentation made in USA by Henryk Skornicki, Radom Branch of the Agricultural Advisory Center , Brwinow; June, 2010).
• In 2011, the total number of advisors was 4,856 that included 4,630 advisors in public institutions and 226 in private firms for cross compliance. In addition, there were 1,703 agri-environmental advisors (Source: Agricultural Advisory in Poland. PowerPoint presentation by Eugeniusz K. Chylek, Department of Agricultural Advisory and Transfer of Knowledge, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; February, 2011).
• In 2012, the total number of agricultural advisors in the public advisory services was about 3,100 while the number of agricultural advisors in the private advisory firms was about 230. The number of agricultural holdings with more than one hectare size was 1.6 million, and the number of farms involved in commercial production was 400,000 (Source: Baltic Deal Project: Putting Best Agricultural Practices into Work. PowerPoint presentation by Andrzej Szymanski, Baltic Deal; 2012).
• In a 2013 document, the number of agri-environmental advisors in public bodies has been indicated as 1,622 including 1,554 advisors of the Provincial Advisory Service Centers and 68 advisors of the Agricultural Chambers. The number of private advisors has been shown as 403. Thus the total number of advisors in all agri-environmental services comes to 2,025 (Source: Investments in Advisory and Research by Promoting Agri-environmental Measures in Poland. PowerPoint presentation by Marek Krysztoforski, Baltic Deal; 2013).

Agricultural research institutes

The Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (SCAR) is the Polish national agricultural research system. Poland has a vast network of research institutes spread all over the country. There is no information available on any of the agricultural research institutes having an organizational unit devoted to agricultural extension nor is there any evidence of any significant agricultural extension and advisory services being offered on regular basis by any of these institutes. However, these institutes collaborate with the public extension advisory services at all levels, serve on advisory boards, participate in joint meetings, capacity building exercises, and at times in field activities as well. Apart from this, the research institutes are responsible for generating improved technologies that could be later disseminated among farmers by the advisory services.

There is a long list of research and development institutes in Poland. These institutes fall administratively under one of the following public institutions: Ministry of Education and Science; Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development; Polish Academy of Sciences; Ministry of Economy; Ministry of Environment; Ministry of Health; Ministry of Labor and Social Policy. The three research institutes that come close to agricultural extension and advisory services are:

• Polish Academy of Sciences, Institute of Rural and Agricultural Development
• Institute of Sustainable Development
• Institute for Environmental Protection

Universities with agricultural profile

Almost all documents describing the agricultural extension and advisory system of Poland mention agricultural universities as one of the actors. However, there is no information available on any specific extension or advisory work being done by any Polish university. Agricultural universities, of course, play an important role in agricultural extension through their academic degree programs in agricultural and rural sciences. They also serve on advisory boards, participate in capacity building events, advisory meetings and sometimes in field activities of the extension staff, and conduct surveys and studies related to extension. Names of some Polish universities with an agricultural profile are given below:

• Warsaw University of Life Sciences.
• Poznan University of Life Sciences.
• University of Life Sciences in Lublin.
• University of Technology and Life Sciences in Bydgoszcz.
• The Hugo Kollataj University of Agriculture in Krakow.
• University of Life Sciences in Wroclaw.
• West Pomeranian University of Technology.
• Siedlce University of Natural Sciences and Humanities; Faculty of Natural Sciences. 

Non-Public Institutions

Private sector

Almost all Polish farms above one hectare are run as private agricultural enterprise. Also, there are some commercial types of farms. One of them, on about 2,700 hectares of land (including owned and leased), is operated by the Continental Farmers Group PLC, which started its operations in 1994 in the fertile Vistula delta in northern Poland.  The farm operations focus primarily on the production of arable crops including winter and spring wheat and spring wheat, and sugar beet.

There are some private consulting companies in Poland such as L.E.K. Consulting that offer a variety of services to agriculture-related clients. Companies like Agrobiotest Ltd., and Bioekspert Ltd., are in the business of inspection and certification of organic produce. Agricultural input supply and commodity trading companies also undertake extension and advisory activities with the objective of promoting their respective businesses.  Poland has hundreds of certified individual agricultural advisors who work for various institutions, private companies, and farming communities under contract. The numbers of these advisors have been indicated in an earlier section.

Non-governmental organizations

Hundreds of national and international NGOs have flourished in Poland since 1989 when the communist rule ended. They cover a wide spectrum of political, intellectual, educational, cultural, environmental, social and developmental activities. Representatives of NGOs serve on agricultural advisory boards at all levels, but the extent of their role in directly providing extension and advisory services is not evident. Many NGOs work under donor funded projects on rural and agricultural development hence engaging directly or indirectly in extension or advisory type activities. Names of some of the NGOs/civil society bodies that are related to agricultural and rural development are:

• Association for Sustainable Development (Agro-Group).
• Coalition to Develop Organic Agriculture.
• Polish Green Network.
• Foundation for Environmental Education (international).
• Friends of the Earth (international).
• International Coalition to Protect the Polish Countryside (ICPPC): works for the protection of small, traditional farms in Poland, promotes organic agriculture, and opposes the introduction of GMO into Polish agriculture (international).
• Green Brigades: organized Local Food Festival in 2005 in Krakow, bringing together a significant number of local food producers from the region.
• EkoMost Foundation: organizes bazaars of local, organic food.
• Institute of Global Responsibility (IGO): has started a couple of awareness raising projects on food sovereignty, sustainable agriculture and the issue of land grabbing.
• Association of Economic Consultants Pro-Akademia: participates in an international awareness raising project on the influence of EU Common Agricultural Policy on agriculture in the sub-Saharan Africa.
• The Green Institute: has led the preparation of the common position paper of Polish NGOs on the Common Agricultural Policy reform in line with the principles of sustainable development.
• Indigena Foundation: works against factory farming which threatens the traditional agriculture and natural environment.
• FER Foundation: has been organizing organic and local food fairs for a few years and supports protection of agricultural biodiversity.
• Rural Development Foundation: not only focuses on non-agricultural initiatives in villages but also in improving information technology, biodiversity, and education of rural population.

Farmers-based associations, cooperatives and societies

Poland has a large number of active farmers-based associations. These associations mostly depend on public extension and advisory services, and try to get maximum benefit from the EU funding provisions designated for farmers of the Member States. Representatives of these associations serve on agricultural advisory bodies and actively participate in the decision making process to ensure the protection and promotion of their members’ interests. Poland hosted the 19^th International Farm Management Association (IFMA) Congress in Warsaw in July 2013.

Names of a few farmers-based associations in Poland are given below:

• Polish Wind Association (PSEW)
  an association of wind farm owners in Poland
• Polish Federation of Cattle Breeders and Dairy Farmers
• National Union of Farmers, Agricultural Circles and Farm Organizations (KZRKIOR)
  supports the development of rural areas; has about 1.1 million members and two major sub-organizations namely Agricultural Circles (22,500 Circles), and Farmer Wives Circles (25,800 Circles); has 48 regional offices and 1,703 county offices
• Federation of Large Scale Farm Producers
  formed in 1993; comprises 15 associations with about 1,000 members.
• National Council of Agricultural Chambers (NCAC)
  founded in 1996; all Polish farmers with at least one hectare of farm land automatically become members; one of the main negotiators for farmers with the government authorities; has 16 regional offices; in 2005, helped in the preparation of strategy for developing rural areas and agriculture
• Association of Flower Bulb Growers.
• Polish Association of Rapeseed Producers
• Polish Biogas Association 

Poland has a long history of agricultural production cooperatives. The numbers of cooperatives have sometimes gone up and at other times declined, depending on the government policies since 1900. The data provided by the Polish National Council of Cooperatives shows that in 2000, there were 1,691 farm supply cooperatives, 240 dairy cooperatives, 143 horticulture cooperatives, 1,100 production cooperatives and 1,125 farm machinery cooperatives in Poland. In 2007, there were 3,849 agricultural cooperatives, 188 dairy cooperatives, 106 gardening and honey cooperatives, 840 production cooperatives and 731 agricultural cooperative circles in the country. 

Agricultural cooperatives send their representatives to the meetings of all agricultural advisory bodies. The cooperatives usually depend on the public extension and advisory services, but could hire private consultants if special needs arise.  There is no information available on agricultural cooperatives having their own regular advisory staff. Probably, some cooperatives could provide some sort of consulting service under special circumstances, depending on their experience and resources.

List of Extension Providers

 The following list shows an excerpt from the GFRAS Directory of Extension Providers for Poland. Some of these entries may be specially marked for having more detailed information in the database of the Worldwide Extension Study WWES.

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Training

Training Options for Extension Professionals

For pre-service training, persons interested in extension advisory profession could enroll themselves in degree-seeking academic programs in agricultural and rural development disciplines at any of the agricultural universities listed in an earlier section. For in-service training, the following institutions may be contacted, depending on specific training needs. Some of these institutions offer short training courses on regular basis while in case of others, special arrangements will have to be made, assuming that necessary funds are available for this purpose.

• Agricultural universities, located in various parts of Poland
• Agricultural research institutes, located across the country
• Agricultural schools located in various parts of the country
• Donor-funded projects that have training and capacity building components in their design (such as the three ongoing projects mentioned in an earlier section)
• Private agricultural consulting companies
• Agricultural Advisory Center, located at Brwinow
• Provincial Agricultural Advisory Service Centers, located in all provinces
• NGOs, technically competent and active in the area of capacity building for rural and agricultural development

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ICT

Info-Mediaries and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for Agriculture and Extension

According to the World Bank, in 2012, the number of mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) in Poland was 132.68. During the same year, the number of Internet users (per 100 people) in the country was 65.  A study conducted in 2010 in the Mazovia Region of Poland, which is rich in agriculture, indicated that the most commonly used ICT device by the farmers was cell phone, followed by computer and then the Internet. Keeping in view that only a limited number of farmers use the Internet in Poland, the study found that the farmers with large landholdings, those with higher income, and those engaged in fruit growing and animal production were the most frequent users of the Internet. The purpose of using the Internet was to seek information on new technologies and means of production, EU subsidies, sale of products and purchase of inputs. Many farmers used the Internet for e-mail correspondence. Slow transfer of data from the Internet and limited education and skills of the farmers were the discouraging factors in accessing the Internet.

The situation regarding the use of ICT applications, tools and software by the staff of the agricultural advisory services in Poland is significant, as shown by the following:

• Almost all field advisors have access to the Internet in their county offices.
• About 40 per cent of the advisory centers in the field have an ICT unit.
• The Agricultural Advisory Center, Brwinow, has a Distance Learning Department, which operates a Distance Advisory Study Network (DASN), started in 2004. The DASN comprises 16 Distance Advisory Study Centers (DASCs), one in each province, and a National Contact Point (NCP). Each DASC and NCP is equipped with server and local network; 20 computers with LCD monitors; software; video projector; and color printer and copier.
• The following farm diagnosis software is being used by the staff of agricultural advisory centers and in some cases by the farmers:
  • Autodiagnoza: software for farmers to check cross compliance conditions in their farms.
  • Agronom 1.0: software used for organic and chemical fertilizing plans for basic crops in the farms.
  • NAW-2: the software for calculating doses of nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, lime, and magnesium fertilizers (based on chemical and physical properties of soil, and the agro-technology to be used.
  • DOPL-2: software for crops’ rotation and succession.
  • ANAPSZ: software for analyzing the nutritional value of feeds.
  • INFOHERB: herbicides database.
  • ZALECENIA TM v.1.1 (Windows) database of all recommended pesticides.
  • Bitfarma 1.0: software to facilitate decision making by farmers; includes module on fertilizing crops, selection of varieties and pesticides; records elements of agro-technology, and fertilizers and pesticides used; calculates gross margin for each crop and field, and also generates applications for direct payments.
  • KOSI: expert advisory software covering several services such as business economics and management, variants of farm mechanization, and agri-holding models.
  • DOPLATY: software for generating applications for area payments (SAPS).
  • Active websites are maintained by all agricultural advisory centers.
• A Virtual Private Net (VPN) project is supporting the advisory system by connecting field advisory centers, research institutes, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development with the Computer Center with exchange access data server. The goal is to establish an Integrated Center of Farm Advisory System in Poland.
• Poland has a main agricultural library located in Warsaw. In addition, several agricultural universities, located in Cracow, Poznan, Lublin, Szczecin, Siedlce, Bydgoszcz, and Olsztyn), have main libraries. These institutions have not only websites and Internet access but they also maintain valuable and vast databases on agriculture.
• A variety of databases are maintained by academic, research and advisory institutions. The main databases, all in Polish, are:  
  • SIGZ: the database of abstracts from Polish scientific journals.
  • ITER: bibliographic database of agricultural engineering and protection of rural areas.
  • INFROL: the database of publications of agricultural advisory centers and other agricultural institutions.
  • AGRINPOL: the databases of non-farm activities carried out on farms as well as in rural areas, such as farm holidays, handicrafts, local food processing, etc.
  • AGRO-INFO: the databases of institutions like advisory centers, agricultural chambers, banks, libraries, etc.
  • SIBROL: the database of research projects.
  • ECO-TECH: the bibliographic database of publications on environmental protection of rural areas.
• Radio and television are widely used for mass extension purposes.  
• Many universities have electronic journals. There is also an Electronic Library (EBIB).
• There are a number of Web Services in Polish, such as:
  Agriculture; AgroABC; AGROcourier; Agroenergetics; AgroFoto; AgroInfo; Agro-modele; Agroportal; Agror; EuroFarmer; Farmers; Foundation of Assistance Programs for Agriculture (FAPA); Infofarmer.

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Resources

Resources and References

Agro Web Poland. 2013.

Banaszak, I. (no date). Transformation of the Rural Cooperative Sector in Poland: Its Contribution Towards Sustainable Development. PowerPoint presentation.

Banski, J. 2011. Changes in agricultural land ownership in Poland in the period of the market economy, Agric. Econ.-Czech, 57, 2011 (2): 93-101.

Borawski, P., I. Pomianek, I. Zuchowski, J.W. Dunn, and H.L. Moore. 2013. Tasks, evolution and problems of extension development in Poland. Journal of US-China Public Administration, May 2013, Vol. 10, No. 5, 507-513.

Center for International Relations, Government of Poland (no date; probably 2010). Polish Agriculture in the EU – A Broad Outline.

Chloupkova, J. 2002. European Cooperative Movement: Background and Common Denominators.

Chloupkova, J. 2002. Polish Agriculture: Organizational Structure and Impacts of Transition. Unit of Economics Working Papers 2002/3, Food and Resource Economic Institute, The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University.

Chylek, E.K. (February 2011). Agricultural Advisory in Poland. PowerPoint presentation.

Czapiewski, K. 2010. The Use of ICT in Mazovian Agriculture.

Kania, J. 2010. Organization of Agricultural Extension in Poland.

Krysztoforski, M. 2013. Investments in Advisory and Research by Promoting Agri-Environmental Measures in Poland. PowerPoint presentation, prepared under the Baltic Deal Project.

Metera, D. 2005. Organic Farming in Poland: Update July 2005. Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL (Switzerland).

Mis, T. (no date; probably 2007). Agricultural Advisory Institutions in European Union Countries. Rzeszow, Poland: Faculty of Economics, University of Rzeszow.

Mis, T. (no date; probably 2008). Role of Extension Service in Implementation of Agricultural and Environmental Programs in Podkarpacie Region. Rzeszow, Poland: Faculty of Economics, University of Rzeszow.

Place, N.T., D.E. Evans, M.P. Andrews, and N.E. Crago. 2000. Implications and impact among American extension professionals and near-associates resulting from the Polish-American Extension Project. Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education, Spring 2000; Pp. 5-16.

Przygodzka, R. 2009. Cooperativeness and Its Role in the Polish Food Production System. Paper presented at the 113^th EAAE Seminar, “A Resilient European Food Industry and Food Chain in a Challenging World”, held at Chania, Crete, Greece; September 3-6, 2009.

Rzepkowski, R. (2007). E-learning in polish Agricultural Advisory. PowerPoint presentation

Rush, C. 2006. Poland Agricultural Situation: Farm Organizations in Poland 2006. USDA Foreign Agricultural Service; GAIN (Global Agriculture Information Network) Report.

Saad, M.B. 2002. Can Small Farmers Survive Poland’s Accession to the EU? (draft paper dated 30/07/02).

Skornicki, H. 2006. Comparison of Existing “Agriculture Advisory Services” to Requirements for FAS (Poland). PowerPoint presentation.

Skornicki, H. 2010. Current Situation of the Agricultural Advisory Service in Poland. PowerPoint presentation made in USA.

Szymanski, A. 2012. Baltic Deal Project: Putting Best Agricultural Practices into Work. PowerPoint presentation.

Teeter, E.H., J.L. Ragland, and M.J. McGirr. 1993. Assisting Poland in transition. Journal of Extension, Summer 1993, Volume 31, Number 2, International, 2INTL1 [total 3 pages].

Turski, J. 2008. Overview of the Agricultural Advisory Systems in the New EU-MS. PowerPoint presentation made at XXII EURAGRI Conference, held at Aarhus, Denmark; 19-21 September, 2008.