Programs and Projects Accomplished in 2011

Supporting Agricultural Development in Ukraine.

Last September ( 2010) the Ukrainian Minister of Agriculture and Food and a distinguished delegation visited USA on invitation of NCFAP for the purpose of making contacts that could lead to improvements in the growth of agriculture and rural communities in Ukraine. We have moved to complete an associated assistance agreements generating assistance from USA agriculture. This assistance is expected to be ready for implementation just after the International Scientific Innovation Forum “Farm of ХХІ Century” to be held by National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine in Kiev, Ukraine on December 5-7, 2011. We expect a total of 9 projects organized by NCFAP to offer to Ukraine at the Forum. They are:

1. Ukrainian Market and Strategic Analysis Project - to Create an Educational - Scientific Center for Agricultural and Food Policy. The USA partners with the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine will be FAPRI at University of Missouri, COLUMBIA.

2. Project of cooperation between University of Maryland (USA) and National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine for training and preparing Scientists from the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine to work with crop makers using satellite data, and integrating Ukraine into international system of nations doing similar work.

3. Council for Agricultural Science and Technology (CAST) will cooperate with the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine to distribute its publications throughout Ukraine.

4. eXtension will cooperate with the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine to offer its on line eXtension training and system for specialists and clients.

5. Swine Genetic International will cooperate with the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine to assist in increasing productivity of swine.

6. Stine Seed Company will cooperate with the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine by transferring genetic material to the University.

7. John Deere Company will cooperate with the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine to establish service centers for its equipment.

8. Monsanto Company will cooperate with the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine to use University Labs and farms for field tests of their varieties.

9. Pioneer Seed Company will cooperate with the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine in testing varieties on their experimental farms.

Support of all of these ventures will be supplied by NCFAP which facilitated introducing the officials to the new American partners.

USDA Contract

The National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (NCFAP) is working with USDA Office of Energy Policy and New Uses/Chief Economists Office on a project to determine the relationship between agricultural feed stocks and petroleum prices. The beginning is with feed stocks that are used for biofuel, oilseeds, corn and wheat. Additional investigations are currently being undertaken for timber and switch grass and corn stoves. Preliminary results show that there is in fact no long term relationship between these feedstocks and petroleum and petroleum products over the period 1999 to 2010. The approach uses time series methods and monthly data if available. Papers will be posted in about 2 months.

USDA Scientific Exchanges

The National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (NCFAP) is implementing a cooperative agreement with the United States Department of Agriculture, Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA-FAS) for long-term training for officials involved in biotech research and regulation in China. These training agreements are for scientific exchange and called Borlaug Fellowships. This year we hosted the Chinese delegation of two scientists during April and May. They were in the USA for a period of about six weeks and observed the regulatory approach of the USA government for GMOs as well as USDA and university research on the GMO issue, the regulatory authority of GIPSA and views of stake holders about the USA and Chinese regulatory process.

The two members of the delegation were Dr. Yong Liu, Researcher at Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Vice Director at Chengdu Ctr of Inspection and Testing for Environmental Safety of GM Plant (MOA) and Dr. Jiajiang Xie, Deputy Director of Inspection and Testing Ctr for Environmental Safety of Transgenic Crops, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (MOA).

Primary goals of the USDA scientific exchanges for China are to equip participating scientists and policy makers with skills and knowledge for better understanding the USA regulatory system for agricultural biotechnology products, as well as to foster collaboration between USA and Chinese agricultural scientists and officials. NCFAP will host another delegation from China during the late spring of 2012.

Extension in Kazakhstan and the Experience of the USA: Lessons from a Working National Model

Stanley R. Johnson, Board Chair of NCFAP, has just finished a book “Extension in Kazakhstan and the Experience of the USA: Lessons from a Working National Model” which is co authored with Rector Tlektes I. Espolov, at the Kazakh National Agrarian University. The book will be published in English in 2012, and translated into Kazakh later that year. The theme of the book is to discuss aspects of the USA system that have worked well and not so well, and offer them as possible guidance for the emerging Extension Service in Kazakhstan. Of course, Kazakhstan is a very different country than the USA with a culture and history that will influence the evolution of the Extension System, but there are ideas in the book that may be useful to the Kazakhs in developing their System. When it is published we will update this information with a reference to the book.

Prior Programs and Projects of NCFAP

National Center for Food and Agricultural Policy (NCFAP) Assistance to Ukraine in Acquiring New Agricultural Technologies

In late September of 2010, a delegation from Ukraine visited the United States of America (USA) for purposes of finding technologies that would contribute to the development of Ukraine’s agriculture and rural economy and discussions about agricultural and trade policies between the two nations. The delegation included the following members:

1. Prysyazhnyuk Mykola Volodymyrovych -Minister of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine

2. Melnychuk Dmytro Oleksiyovych- Rector of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine

3. Melnychuk Maksym Dmytrovych – Deputy Minister of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine

4. Kaletnyk Grygorij Mykolayovych - Member of Parliament of Ukraine, Head of the Verhovna Rada Committee of Agrarian Policy and Land Relations

The trip and meetings while in the USA as well some of the accommodations and transportation were organized by NCFAP.

During the visit the delegation had meetings with many companies, NGOs, educational and scientific institutions and official representatives in Washington DC, Maryland and Iowa State.

The Ambassador of Ukraine in USA hosted guests from Ukraine for the introduction breakfast and the beginning of their trip. US-Ukraine Business Council hosted the delegation and guests for a business luncheon, where many issues about US – Ukrainian business development have been discussed.

Later the members of the delegation headed by the Minister of Agrarian Policy of Ukraine had meetings with Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur, representatives of Senate, USDA and USAID.

Row of business companies also have been visited by the delegation. Among them: John Deere, The Exim Bank, Grain Council, Stine Seed company, Swine Genetic International, DuPont, Pioneer and Monsanto.

They visited University of Maryland and Beltsville Research Station of USDA as well as they had many meetings in the Iowa State University, related to extension service and to the bioresources development, particularly – visit to Bio Century Research Farm.

As the result of this visit the following US – Ukrainian projects are now under consideration for development and implementation in Ukraine:

1. Engaging the Stine Seed Company in Genetic Engineering with Ukraine Seed Companies

2. Yield Forecasting and Related Sensing Activities Using the Satellite Information

3. Cooperation with the Swine Seamen Company of Iowa

4. Food and Agricultural Policy Research Institute (FAPRI) Model for Ukraine

5. USA Support of the Development of National Extension Program for Ukraine which Involves Selected Concepts from the USA Extension Program

6. Biofuels Development in Ukraine

7. Grains Council Proposal for Support of the Livestock and Biofuels Industries in Ukraine

8. Preparing the Agricultural Industry for the John Deere Technologies to be imported.

9. Finding Opportunities for Pioneer and Monsanto Companies to Develop Research Programs with the University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine and with the Ministry Farm to be developed near Kyiv.

The planned follow up activities involve USA companies, universities, NGOs and the USA Government. NCFAP has agreed to coordinate these activities, and necessary reciprocal visits to Ukraine and the USA.