Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 10, 1993 TAG: 9311100108
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: GREG EDWARDS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Public investments in the Cooperative Extension Service and in classroom teaching of agriculture have generated similarly high returns of 37 percent and 53 percent, according to George W. Norton, a professor of agricultural economics at Tech.
Norton reported Tuesday on the results of the recent study he and graduate student Remi Paczkowski conducted on the impact of the agricultural research and education in Virginia.
Since 1950, Norton said, the value of yearly farm production in Virginia - not counting inflation - has increased from $1.2 billion to $1.9 billion, or by 63 percent. During the same period, the amount of farmland in Virginia has been cut nearly in half and the number of people working on the state's farms has dropped by 89 percent.
"Over the past four decades, agriculture in Virginia has undergone a transition from a labor-intensive, resource-based industry to a more capital and information-intensive, science-based industry," according to the Norton-Paczkowski study.
An analysis shows that the increases in productivity of the land and of farm labor has been made possible in large extent by investments in agricultural research and education, Norton said. Other factors playing a role have been the initiative and hard work of farm families, low-cost industry, increased on-farm investments and an improved transportation network.
In addition to providing direct returns, investments in agricultural research and education ripple through the economy, generating jobs, household income and other types of production, the study found.
An additional $3 million divided equally among research, extension and agricultural education, would generate another $28.4 million in farm products, $6.59 million in nonfarm products, 995 jobs, $12.12 million in household income and $34.5 million in value-added products.
The high rates of return from agricultural research and education indicate that not enough - rather than too much - money has been invested in those areas, the study concluded.
But why, with the big benefits that the investments are paying, have state budgets for agricultural research, extension and education been increasingly cut? In the current political climate it may be easier to cut back on long-term investments on research and education rather than raise taxes or cut social programs or other areas of government, the two researchers wrote.
"Research and extension programs suffer in particular because the general public often does not understand the origins of competitive industries and lower food prices," Norton and Paczkowski wrote.
by CNB