Jordan valley agricultural services project (JVASP)

PES covers the period 1/82-5/83 and is based on document review, site visits, and interviews with research and extension staffs. Although the project has been underway too short a time to have made an impact on agricultural productivity, considerable progress has been made: 49 professional and 39 support staff have been employed (more than the number originally planned because of the addition of the Ghor Safi area); 5 research sites have been established and an addition begun to the main building at the Deir Alla site; the Washington State University team is in place and has begun research and extension activities with its Jordanian counterparts; 45 plastic houses, complete with drip irrigation systems, have been installed at 3 research sites; intensive English-language training was undertaken by most of the research and extension staff and short-term training by a number of staff members (11 more will begin short-term training in the summer/fall of 1983 and 4 staff members are enrolled in Master"s programs at the University of Jordan). Research is proceeding in three major areas (plant pests and diseases, production and management practices, and soil and water management) and, with the first production cycle completed, some results worthy of extending to farmers have been attained. A successful unplanned activity was the use in a series of on-farm demonstrations of 7 tons of seed potatoes which were unexpectedly made available to the project. The two planned laboratories are not yet operational and probably will not be until early 1984. The extension program was delayed by a lack of vehicles, but is now improving. The major problem, which still remains, is the inability of the Government of Jordan (GOJ) to offer personnel the financial incentives envisaged in the project design. Also, the project"s location entails long daily travel for most personnel. Eight dissatisfied GOJ staff members were eventually transferred; they are being replaced, and the situation seems to be normalizing. (Near East Evaluation Abstract, modified)