SMALL FARMS IN EL SALVADOR WERE STUDIED TO ASSESS HOW WELL CENTA (THE TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE UNIT OF THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE) SERVES THE NEEDS OF SMALL FARMERS. THE FIVE OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY WERE TO (1) ESTABLISH CURRENT TECHNICAL INPUTS AND CROP YIELDS; (2) ESTIMATE ANTICIPATED GAINS IN PRODUCTIVITY WITHIN TWO TO FIVE YEARS; (3) ESTABLISH THE EXTENT TO WHICH SMALL FARMERS ACCEPT AND USE RECOMMENDED ADVANCED METHODS; (4) IDENTIFY PROBLEMS THAT PREVENT THE FARMERS FROM FOLLOWING RECOMMENDED METHODS; AND (5) IDENTIFY STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES IN THE CENTA TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE SYSTEM. THE OBJECTIVES WERE PURSUED BY INTERVIEWING CENTA STAFF MEMBERS, EXAMINING RECORDS, ACCOMPANYING EXTENSION AGENTS IN VISITS TO 120 SMALL FARMERS. THE PRINCIPAL CONCLUSIONS: THE SMALL FARMERS ARE RECEPTIVE TO CHANGE. THEY HAVE RAPIDLY ADOPTED ADVANCED METHODS OF INCREASING YIELDS OF THEIR CORN AND RICE CROPS, BUT MANY OF THEM FARM MARGINAL LAND THAT HAS TOO MUCH SLOPE AND THIN TOPSOIL. THEY ALSO COMMONLY LACK CASH TO PURCHASE FIRST-GENERATION HYBRID SEED. THE CENTA EXTENSION SYSTEM IS WELL DISPERSED AND ACTIVE, BUT EXTENSION AGENTS ARE LOW PAID, HAVE LOW STATUS, ARE UNDER-TRAINED, AND HAVE A HIGH TURNOVER RATE. THE AUTHORS RECOMMEND MEANS OF BETTER SUPPORTING EXTENSION AGENTS AND IMPROVING THE NUMBER AND QUALITY OF FIELD EXPERIMENTS AND DEMONSTRATION TESTS.
