Abstract
Owing to the importance of agricultural extension in the history of the CSIRO, this paper gives some detail about current CSIRO policy and its ramifications. The major points are:
A division of labour was established in 1927 between CSIRO’s predecessor, CSIR and State departments of agriculture where CSIRO was responsible for conducting strategic research in agriculture and the State departments for applying it in the field (extension).
This policy, while it allowed the fledgling CSIR to develop, had implications for the culture of CSIRO until the 1980s. A very strong strategic focus in agricultural research, the major component of the organization’s activities, resulted in less attention on adoption than was appropriate given the provisions of our Act.
There have been many structural changes in agribusiness systems, both in Australia and globally, and the local extension system serving them since 1927. These changes led the CSIRO Board in 1990 to endorse a modified policy to advocate that CSIRO ‘has primary responsibility to facilitate or encourage the application of the results of its research’ and ‘that scientists who are responsible for managing research are also responsible for ensuring that the appropriate extension links for their results are in place’.
Since 1990 we have gained further experience in technology adoption either as commercialization through companies, policy advice to government departments or public-good work. As a result of this experience, and of dramatic changes in the agribusiness environment, it is not appropriate to have a policy devoted to this topic alone, isolated from technology adoption in general. The policy was also somewhat unusual for Board endorsed initiatives in being prescriptive about how we should operate rather than what we should do.
In June 2000 the Board noted the involvement of CSIRO in a wide range of activities aimed at achieving higher levels of technology adoption in Australian Agribusiness that have been developed since the adoption of the CSIRO extension policy in 1990. The Board endorsed these, now widely accepted, activities and considered that a specific policy dealing solely with extension is no longer necessary. This reflects the pluralism that now exists in the funding, process and delivery of extension.
Introduction
The History of Extension in CSIRO
CSIR was established in 1926. Earlier initiatives to set up a Federal research agency failed because of suspicion of the States about a Federal body duplicating the research work they were already doing in their departments of agriculture. Thus one of the first tasks facing the Chief Executive, David Rivett, was to define a role for the new organization in agricultural research, and in particular the relationship with State departments of agriculture.
These bodies were established at the end of the last century, principally to counter the ‘pastoral hegemony’ and serve the small but growing crop production sector (NSW was a net importer of wheat until the dying days of the 1890s). In contrast to the Universities, which largely neglected research owing to their emulation of the UK system and its deficiencies, these departments conducted some agricultural research under difficult conditions: At a conference in March 1927 of academics and heads of departments of agriculture, convened by Rivett, a territorial division of labour was agreed; ‘Investigations …which are of a more or less fundamental character and which are national in scope should be conducted by the Commonwealth, whilst problems of a more or less local character and which involved the applications of existing knowledge (extension) should be undertaken by the State Departments of Agriculture.
This policy agreement persisted through the life of CSIR, survived its transition to CSIRO, and as far as current records indicate was last reaffirmed, with some qualifications and developments, by the CSIRO Board in 1990. Given the changes in the last century in industry structure, to CSIRO and the way it conducts its technology adoption, and new scientific developments, the Board in 1999 recognised the legitimate role of CSIRO in extension.
What is Agricultural Extension?
Discussion of extension is often free of definitions and precision but it is generally agreed that extension has four facets. I draw freely on Jeff Coutts' work in this regard, and recognise that extension involves technology transfer, problem solving, education and human development.
In its early days, extension arose as a problem-solving enterprise, based on existing knowledge. As research began to be used to increase the knowledge base, technology transfer became more important, especially as the political advantages in rural electorates became apparent; there is however a very strong element of technology push and a spirit of ‘we know what is good for you’ in this approach. The latter two, softer aspects are relatively recent developments.
The Assumptions behind Extension
In my experience several assumptions underpin this process.
‘The aim of having the greatest possible outcome in terms of raising the competitiveness of the rural sector’. The emphasis is on rural sector AS A WHOLE, or discrete components of it such as wool, meat, grains etc, rather than the needs of specific BUSINESSES in it.
The principal reason for this sectoral, rather than industry focus, is that most growers (at least historically) produce a commodity that is traded up the pipeline to the end user through intermediaries; there is little differentiation in product attributes, but there are significant differences in the efficiency of individual growers in meeting the commodity standards.
The research is usually commissioned by a particular rural R&D corporation, funded by a levy on producers of the commodity, on behalf of the sector as a whole, and in most cases the outcomes are available to all levy payers. The continuing importance of the R&D Corporations is reflected in CSIRO’s external earning, where they account for about half of our external earnings in Sectors like Meat, Dairy and Aquaculture.
There is a linear chain in which the research, carried out by the researchers, is passed on to others to apply it more widely in the commissioning sector. CSIRO’s role in that chain is to do the research in response to a request from the R&D Corporation, usually at marginal cost.
The cultural implications of the last point, the ‘theoretical’ basis for Rivett’s pragmatic policy, have been particularly important, especially during the 60s and 70s at the zenith of rural industry funding from commodities such as wool. Some scientists in CSIRO Divisions undertaking commodity or agricultural-related research until recently have chosen to focus almost exclusively on strategic research, and to publish it; little direct attention was given to the adoption of the work. Extension agencies could read the papers, perhaps do some work to adapt it to their requirements, and then transfer the technology in the normal way through their departments. We all know how radically that situation has changed since 1990.
What has changed in the Business Environment?
All agribusiness enterprises are exposed to long-term trends that present challenges and opportunities; for simplicity these trends are analysed as elements of a Porter diamond, and are detailed later. The key points are
The emergence of vertically integrated, supply chains, usually coordinated by a retailer, domestic or offshore, or a food service operator. Primary producers are required to supply a product for a particular customer to a unique specification detailing product attributes, cost and logistics. The production-based commodity culture shifts to a more end-user, demand-driven, differentiated-product focus.
The emergence of biotechnologically transformed crop varieties strongly facilitating this focus.
The introduction of precision agriculture techniques to give primary producers more control over their farming systems.
A reducing role of government in more traditional areas of intervention (marketing, statutory R&D bodies, State departments) but a stronger role in food safety and sustainability.
These trends reflect a move away from a factor-driven economy, where the strength of this sector is drawn from basic production factors to an investment-driven one where agribusinesses invest to construct modern, efficient, large-scale facilities equipped with the best technology available on the global market. Some of the most advanced companies are innovation-driven through sophisticated consumer demand as described above. There are nevertheless different segments in agribusiness; the industry dimension sets the rules of the game, and it is difficult for firms to show superior performance in ‘unattractive’ industries (such as beef over the last five years or wool). However to perform well even in an ‘attractive’ industry (cotton) requires superior activities at the firm level; with these superior attributes, a firm can cut itself off from the fortunes (or lack of them) in the industry by being part of a coordinated agribusiness where cooperation and alliances are an integral part of doing business.
A brief comparison with the assumptions section above indicates that much extension policy is focussed on commodity agriculture, based on low-cost firms with high-cost linkages. The profitability of individual firms is constrained by links in the supply chain and as the commodity is purchased on price, firms can only reduce cost; the gains are invariably passed on to the customer (the wool industry is an excellent exemplar).
What have we learnt from our experience in technology adoption and what do we propose to do in the future?
The state of the industry; a textile contrast
In our adoption practice, one of the lessons we have learnt is the importance of the competitive context and the ‘rules of the game’. The contras