The Virtual Agricultural extension center (VAEC) aims at enhance communications and forge existing relationship between farmer and agricultural extension and resrach services by using Information technology and social networks. That would improve the quality of the extension advisory sevices rendered to all concnered and farmers" categories more specificlly the small scale farmers. The VAEC is considered as a national reference concerning information, agricultural extension services, statistics, and by-laws adopted in Palestine.
Our Mission:
It is envisioned to become a decentralized, farmer owned and private sector serviced extension system contributing to the realization of the agricultural sector development objectives
Our Vision:
To increase farmers’ access to information, knowledge and technology for profitable agricultural development.
In the context of Palestine the following definition could be adopted:
- Agricultural extension is a service or system which assists farm people, through educational procedures, to improve farming methods and techniques, increase production efficiency and income, better levels of living, and lift the social and educational standards of rural life.
- Agricultural extension is assistance to farmers to enable them identify and analyze their production problems, and to increase their awareness of the opportunities for improvements.
Main Objectives of the Agricultural Extension Programme:
The most important goals for the Palestinian Agricultural Extension are:
- Expanding agricultural activities in the field of crop and animal production;
- Increasing the yield through modern agriculture techniques
- Improving the quality of agricultural products;
- Assisting the farmers in solving technical problems at farm levels;
- Transferring new techniques and training the farmers to use them;
- Enhancing the acquired experience of the farmers by providing them with new agricultural techniques;
- Increasing and diversifying the income of the farmer"s family;
- Detecting the reactions of farmers towards the new techniques and transferring these reactions to the agricultural scientific research centers, so as to develop proper techniques, appropriate for farmer" situation.
Environmental problems and extension activities:
Agricultural extension activities include the following topics related to environmental protection:
- Biological pest control in order to minimize the use of chemicals;
- Reduction of crops wastes burning;
- Proper fertilization according to soil analysis;
- Proper use of irrigation water
- Proper agricultural practices, as to avoid soil erosion;
- Reforestation programmes, through planting trees during the annual celebrations of the Tree Day.