Setting up a Sustainable Training Center for Agricultural Consultancy in the North West and Central Region of Romania

The Modernizing of Agricultural Knowledge and Information System (MAKIS) Project, financed through the World Bank Loan no. 4758-Ro, had through the component “Support for Advisory and Information Systems” (Official Monitor, 2005), the objective to set up Training and Information Centers in the main regions in Romania. A functional TIC for agriculture for the North-West and Central Region of Romania (counties Alba, Bistriţa, Cluj, Harghita, Maramureş, Mureş, Satu Mare, Sălaj), was set, fully integrated to and hosted by the USAMV Cluj. It was planned as a permanent training and information center with wider and structured curricula as well as information providers for topics of regional importance that are readily accessible and applicable for the agricultural/rural population. Its main tasks are to: i) gather knowledge on agricultural technologies from within the country and abroad in order to meet both the farmers needs as well as EU requirements, ii) develop relevant extension packages and training modules for selected topics for each agro-farming area; iii) train trainers and providers of agricultural extension and advisory services and provide them accreditation, iv) train trainers and inspectors within the food safety system and provide them accreditation and v) train researchers on how to develop research proposals and integrate within the European Research area. The training activity started in October 2008 and is ongoing. Overall there were trained: 80 food safety inspectors, 40 researchers and 400 extension staff. Each training session was organized for 20 participants and lasted between 1 (for researchers) to 4 weeks (for consultants).