Soil management support service

Special PES covers the period 9/79-12/82 and is based on documentation and review by an Advisory Panel. The project has been extremely successful, meeting all targets for short-term technical assistance (TA) and technology transfer through publications, training, and international fora. A total of 975 days of short-term TA have been provided in 22 LDC"s to help national institutions and/or A.I.D. Missions to formulate policies and programs for land use in LDC food and fibre production, conduct soil surveys and soil conservation programs, and evaluate soil-related projects. Technology transfer activities, which have focused on refining soil taxonomy, have included annual international soil classification workshops, five international training courses for LDC soil scientists, and the publication of five issues of Soil Taxonomy News and six technical monographs. Several training packages are being prepared, with two completed to date, contacts have been established with LDC scientists and decisionmakers, and international committees are functioning. A data bank of tropical soils is being developed; about 250 pedons from 25 countries have been analyzed. The advisory panel recommended that the project: (1) concentrate on refining soil taxonomy, in order to provide a stronger basis for soil management decisions; (2) strengthen LDC capabilities in data bank management and in interpretation of soil information for practical purposes, through training and cooperation with agricultural research networks; and (3) improve its response time to LDC proposals for refinement of soil taxonomy.