Balqa, Sept. 16 (Petra) --National Agricultural Research Center (NARC), in cooperation with the Agriculture Ministry's Extension Directorate, on Wednesday launched a training course to better link scientific research with agricultural extension, which would help deliver research-based techniques and recommendations to farmers.

The course, themed: "Strengthening Links Between Research, Extension and Effective Technology Transfer to Increase Farmers' Income," runs through Sept. 21 with 10 researchers and agricultural extension officers from Iraq's Kurdistan Region.

The event covers the stages of agricultural technology transfer, mainly identifying farmers' needs and challenges to applying suitable techniques and monitoring results, and examines mechanisms used by researchers and extension officers to exchange information and use farmer feedback to set research and extension priorities.

On its goals, the program aims to help participants turn research findings into feasible recommendations suited to farmers' production and economic conditions, and includes lectures, hands-on applications and field visits showcasing Jordan's model for organizing research-extension relations.

Held under a technical cooperation project to build agricultural research and extension capacity in Iraq's Kurdistan Region, training activities are commissioned by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), in coordination with the region's Ministry of Agriculture and Water Resources.

The program builds on existing cooperation between the center and JICA in fields including aquaculture, agricultural pond development, water resource management and sustainable farming practices.

The knowledge and experience gained by participants are expected to contribute to develop agricultural extension programs in Iraq's Kurdistan Region, improve coordination between researchers and extension agents, and align extension services with farmers' actual needs.

//Petra// NQ