Sustainable Agriculture

Ecosystem Health and Sustainable 1 Agriculture

Editor: Christine Jakobsson

CSDCentre for sustainable development Uppsala. Farm Level Economics and How to Change Behaviour

Agricultural Education and Extension 58 CASE STUDY Russia

Valery Belyakov and Mikhail Moskalev St Petersburg Agrarian University, St Petersburg, Russia Alexandra Izosimova Agro-Physical Research Institute, Pushkin, Russia

Vocational Training in Russia ing include full-time tuition, extra-mural studies, corre- The Russian system of vocational training consists of spondence training, externships and courses. several levels: 1) Vocational school, providing senior sec- The most effective ecological education of students ondary education; 2) technical college, providing techni- is achieved using a mixed model, with basic ecological cal training for different professions; 3) vocational col- knowledge taught through the separate subjects ‘ecology’ lege, providing higher level technical training, e.g. farm and the ecologically directed content of some closely-re- mechanics; 4) institute, academy, university; and 5) post- lated basic subjects (biology, geography, chemistry, phys- graduate applied education (Figure 58.1). ics, etc.). This approach includes organisation of ecological excursions, ecological paths, groups and courses, establishment of ecological department on a school ex- perimental plots, etc. Agricultural Education A degree in agroecology teaches methods for assess- ing the condition of the agrolandscape; methods of toxi- There are 62 agricultural Higher Education Institutions cant detection in soils, plants and production; methods (HEIs) and 5 branches thereof, 285 colleges and technical of ecological estimation of fertilisation, plant protection schools, as well as academies and institutes of improve- and land improvement systems; engineering techniques ment of professional skills and retraining of personnel in in action systems for restoration of polluted and dis- the 88 regions of the Russian Federation. Forms of train- turbed lands; methods of soil-ecological inspection and

444 Farm Level Economics and How to Change Behaviour

CASE STUDY Russia

Figure 58.1. Levels of vocational training in the current Russian system. Note* Since 1992, the following degrees are awarded: Bachelor of Science (4 years); Master of Science (2 years after receipt of Bachelor degree); Expert Diploma (5-6 years of training) – a qualifying degree. The Master of Science and Expert Diploma qualify graduates for postgraduate study.

techniques for agrolandscape research for appropriate use the ecological content. The following institutions were in the agricultural industry; methods of agroecosystem involved: St. Petersburg State University (SPSU), St. modelling and determination of degree of soil erosion. Petersburg State Agrarian University (SPSAU), Academy Graduates are prepared for tasks such as agroecological of Management and Agribusiness of the Russian monitoring, ecological examination, land evaluation and Federation Nonchernozem Zone, Besedsky Agricultural rational use of agrolandscapes, carried out in regional College. The technical and methodological potential of centres for ecological services. these establishments was also analysed. During meetings The ecological awareness of students of the leading with representatives of educational institutions, issues agrarian HEIs and colleges in the Russian Federation is regarding the state of vocational training in the field of substantially enhanced through the participation of these ecology and agricultural production were discussed, as educational institutions and their teachers and students well as the existing curricula. in international programmes and projects. Thus dur- The cooperation between the project and the Faculty ing the implementation of the Russian-Swedish project of Soil Science and Agroecology SPSAU resulted in ‘Agriculture and Environment in Leningrad Oblast, the organisation of a conference for pupils and students AELO’ in the actions directed at increasing ecological ‘Agroecology and scientific and technical advances’. On awareness, special attention was given to young people. the basis of conference work, a collection of materials At the initial stage of this project, the curricula of was issued. It comprised contributions from pupils of various levels of some educational establishments in St. Polyanskaya comprehensive school of the Vyborg area Petersburg and Leningrad region were analysed to assess of Leningrad region, Selsovskaya educational school

445 Farm Level Economics and How to Change Behaviour

Tosno area of Leningrad region, students of Besedsky plants. In the EU countries national GAP codes were ap- Agricultural College, Vsevolozhsk Agricultural College, plied in 1990-2000 using general conditions specified by students and post-graduate students of SPSAU, and also EU Directives. information from experts in the project. Furthermore, the countries bordering the Baltic Sea Both the AELO project and the succeeding Baltic Sea (including Russia) signed the Convention on Protection Programme for the Leningrad Region, uniting six coop- of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area (the erating projects, mainly focused on solving ecological Helsinki Convention), which is governed by the Helsinki questions regarding the agricultural production. At the Commission (HELCOM) and aims to fulfil the transition same time, great value was placed both in the project and to ecologically safe agriculture by developing and using in the Program on interaction with educational institu- GAP throughout the Baltic Sea Region. tions, research institutes and local farmers’ organisations Ecological legislation, including a series of laws and in preparing and carrying out ecological seminars for normative documents regulating environmental protection heads and experts of agricultural production, organising in detail, has now been established in Russia. However practical consultations, preparing and implementing eco- farmers have difficulties in understanding this legislation logical components into actual technological projects and and using it in their daily work, so general provisions on increasing ecological awareness in young people. the organisation of ecologically safe agricultural produc- The international project ‘Development of agricultural tion have been clarified taking into account the modern education in the north-west region of Russia based on theoretical and practical level and full conformity with the experience of Denmark’, which developed and intro- Russian legislation, the laws of the Leningrad region and duced curricula for three special educational institutions HELCOM recommendations. in the Leningrad, Novgorod and Kaliningrad areas, has In 2005-2006, a group of Russian and Finnish ex- significantly promoted the use of international experi- perts prepared and issued the first part of the GAP Code ence, in particular on questions of ecology, in teaching for the Leningrad region: ‘Animal husbandry and fod- in agricultural technical schools and colleges. The main der production’ (Semenova, 2006). In 2006-2007 the educational institutions involved in the project the St. second part of the Code (Poultry) was prepared and is- Petersburg Agrarian University and Vsevolozhsk Base sued (Dzhavadova, 2007). This work was funded by the Agricultural College of Leningrad region. The project Ministry of Environment of Finland. The Code is de- was coordinated by the Danish agricultural consulta- signed for the use of direct agroproducers: farmers, ex- tion centre and funded by the Danish Ministry of Food, perts, heads of the agricultural enterprises and aviculture Agriculture and Fishery. farms; experts and heads of control bodies, consultancy services and various service organisations; and HEIs and special agricultural educational institutions. Both parts are issued in Russian and English and are available on Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) the website of the Baltic Sea Program for the Leningrad Region www.eagri.spb.ru Successful cooperation between Russia and Finland has resulted in creation of a code of Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) in the Leningrad region This code is a system of rules and principles covering all kinds of ag- Information-consulting Services (ICS ) ricultural activity and protecting the environment from negative influences of agriculture. The Code improves In the early 1990s, essential changes connected with the opportunities for farmers, identifies simpler and more ef- transition to a market economy, including establishment fective methods of environmental protection, safeguards of farmer facilities and creation of agricultural co-opera- the health of humans and animals, and helps preserve tives and limited liability companies, took place in the rural landscapes and a biodiversity of wild animals and Russian agricultural sector. Such organisations were fre-

446 Farm Level Economics and How to Change Behaviour

quently governed by people lacking appropriate educa- absence of corresponding traditions, since in the planned tion and sufficient professional experience, which led to economy all key positions in agricultural production were a need for expert help for training and improvement of occupied by experts with higher/professional secondary professional skills. education who were obliged to maintain their qualifica- Furthermore, advisory services on operating in a mar- tions. The system of improvement of professional skills ket environment were demanded by both skilled manag- and retraining of personnel played, and still plays, a vital ers and experts in agricultural production. This resulted in role in agricultural education. the creation of information-consulting service (ICS) in the Up to the middle of the 1980s, professional skills train- agricultural sector (AS) in Russia to furnish rural produc- ing for directors and experts in the agricultural sector was ers of all patterns of ownership with scientific and tech- carried out at higher education institutions in Russia. At nical knowledge, innovative projects and commercial in- a lower level, a network of academies and institutes spe- formation. This service was provided within the Ministry cialised in improving professional skills and retraining of Agriculture of the Russian Federation and consisted of staff in the agrarian sector. In the 1990s these were drasti- regional, republican, territorial, area and district ICS cen- cally reduced, although lately there has been a noticeable tres. Experienced staff in agriculture departments and at growth in this kind of activity in HEIs, and in some cases, research organisations were initially employed as consult- vocational training institutes have merged with HEI. ants. In addition, training-consultation centres were also In north-west Russia, vocational training institutes for created under the auspices of higher education institutions agriculture are located in Saint Petersburg, Kaliningrad, and colleges, academies and vocational training institutes. Novgorod, Petrozavodsk, Vologda, Syktyvkar (Komi In order to increase the efficiency of ICS, its function- Republic) and Pskov. There is also an institute for ing and coordination of the activities of regional infor- ‘Improvement of Professional Skills and Retraining of mation-consultation centres, an ICS-AS Council with 35 the Experts in Natural Resources, Environmental Safety members including representatives of regional informa- and Protection’ in St. Petersburg. In addition, profes- tion-consulting services, the Ministry of Agriculture and sional public associations, e.g. the Union of Farmers of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences has been Leningrad region and St. Petersburg, in partnership with established. ICS staff training is provided at Moscow research institutions, plan and organise courses for the Agricultural Academy (Klimenko, 2000). general public. The formation and development of ICS in Russia was assisted by a number of domestic and international projects, the most significant of which was the project on support of realisation of reforms in agriculture – ARIS. One of the key international projects in the sphere of agricultural education in north-west Russia was TACISFDRUS 9702 ‘Strengthening Agricultural Reform through Training’, which was mainly dedicated to formation and development of ICS. Within the framework of the project a series of seminars was carried out and a manual ‘The Organization of Information - Consulting Service in Agricultural Sector’ was prepared and issued. The coordination office of the project in the north-west region was in SPSAU. At the same time, it is necessary to understand that de- spite significant organisational efforts, ICS is not as vital for the development of agricultural production of Russia is it is e.g. in Denmark. This can be due in part to the

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