Seed program and industry development

PES covers the period 4/79-7/83 and is based on an attached special evaluation (XD-AAP-034-A). The project has made substantial progress. MSU/STL staff, who spend 30-35% of their time on project activities, have delivered 41 person-months of TA to 54 LDC"s (e.g., help in solving problems in ongoing seed programs and in developing and implementing new comprehensive seed programs) and have carried out adaptive research on specific seed problems. STL has also acted as an information resource for LDC"s (e.g., offering general publications and scientific article reprints). Short- and long-term (advanced degree) training has been provided to LDC participants on the MSU campus, and MSU staff have conducted short courses in LDC"s. Because STL has been well equipped and is constantly upgraded by MSU at no cost to A.I.D. and because only some of STL"s seed assistance activities are charged to the cooperative agreement, the project has been one of the most cost-effective in S&T/AGR"s portfolio. Recommendations are to extend the project for one year and encourage STL to publish more of its research findings.