ISHS Acta Horticulturae 672: IV International Symposium on Horticultural Education, Extension and Training
THE LATE, GREAT CALIFORNIA EXTENSION SYSTEM: WHAT WENT WRONG? |
| Author: | M. Murray |
| Keywords: | privatization, technology transfer, public extension, Smith-Lever Act, Land Grant College, cooperative extension |
| Abstract:
California’s land grant extension program has been successful in assisting agricultural industries develop into major world producers. Extension has been a leader in facilitating quality of life and economic improvements for rural communities throughout the state. However, population explosion has transformed California into an urban state, which has changing societal issues, values and priorities. Extension agricultural programs continue to directly serve a declining number of clientele that represent less than 1.5 percent of the population. Financial support for extension is decreasing at the county and state levels. This is due to: competing for resources in political venues without having adequate political capital; limited educational or applied research activities that are directly relevant to the majority of the population; Californian agriculture is a mature industry with sophisticated support industries that supply many of the traditional extension services; and a misplaced emphasis on service as the major product of a public extension program. | |
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