EVALUATION REPORT OF THE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND MARKETING PROJECT NO. 528-55-130-041.2

IT HAS SINCE BECOME A RESEARCH EFFORT DESIGNED TO ASSIST THE MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE TO STIMULATE PRODUCTION AND IMPROVE MARKETING THROUGH RESEARCH COORDINATED WITH TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO PRODUCERS, CONCENTRATING ON FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PRODUCTION FOR EXPORT. A UNIVERSITY CONSORTIUM CONTRACT PROVIDES FOR ADVISORY SERVICES, PARTICIPANT TRAINING, AND THE IMPORTATION OF ESSENTIAL EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE LAS BRUJAS EXPERIMENT STATION. IN GENERAL, THE PROJECT IS WELL-CONCEIVED AND STATISFACTORILY CARRIED OUT. THE GOUHAS BEEN VERY SUPPORTIVE OF THIS PROJECT AND IS TAKING STEPS TO IMPROVE THE COORDINATION OF OTHER PERTINENT ACTIVITIES SUCH AS SUPERVISED CREDIT, MARKETING FACILITIES AND COOPERATIVE DEVELOPMENT. IT IS DIFFICULT TO RELATE INDICATIONS OF POSITIVE PROGRESS TO THE PROJECT BECAUSE IT IS A LONG RANGE ENTERPRISE. THE US UNIVERSITY CONSORTIUM AND THE PARTICIPANT TRAINING PROGRAM ARE EFFECTIVE. EXPERIMENTS ARE ORIENTED TOWARD PRIORTIY CROPS AND MAJOR PROBLEMS AND THE PEOPLE WORKING ON THE PROJECT ARE CLEARLY AWARE OF ITS GOAL. THERE HAVE BEEN SOME PROBLEMS WITH EQUIPMENT AND SUPPLIES: DELAYS, INSTALLATION, AND MAINTENANCE. ANNEXES INCLUDE A LOGICAL FRAMEWORK AND A LIST OF PUBLICATIONS.