The Role of Agricultural Extension in Developing the Egyptian Exports of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants

Document Type : Research articles.

Author

Department of Agricultural Economics – Faculty of Agriculture – Fayoum University

Abstract

The study aims to: determine the participants’ level of knowledge for the
variables within the international and local markets of medicinal and aromatic
plants, recognize the role of agricultural extension in developing the exports of these
crops, recognize the nature of the relationship between the extension service and the
organizations working in the exports field, recognize the requirements for extending
the production of medicinal and aromatic plants, and finally determine the level of
recognizing the required quality standards for exporting the chamomile as long as
the international demand for it is increasing.
The study has been investigated on a sample of 117 participants, 80 of them
are medicinal and aromatic plants growers and 37 of the extension staff in Fayoum
Governorate.
The most important results regarding the extension staff were; low level of
knowledge regarding the international marketing variables (the global price of
chamomile, the proper time for exporting, and the quality standards for exports),
73% of them referred that they don’t provide any services for the growers in
marketing the product, 67.6% of them stated that there is no relationship between the
extension authorities and the governmental organizations that working in the export
field, at the same time 18.1% of them stated that there is a relationship between the
extension authorities and the associations working in the field of exporting crops.
The most important requirements for expanding the cultivated area of these crops
– as the extension staff point of view – were; organizing a trainings for the extension
staff who are working in this field (100%), inform the growers about the quality
standards for exports, expand the growing in the new lands (45.9%), and offer
money incentives for the extension agents and the marketing specialists (59.5%).
Regarding the participants of growers, the most important results were;
56.25% of the growers market their production by contracting with the exporters,
88.7% of the growers don’t know about the quality standards, and 75% of them
don’t know the global price and the proper time for growing.
The main problems facing the growers within the production process were;
the infection of pests and diseases (78.5%) and the low quality of irrigation water
which affects the quality of the production (80%). Regarding the marketing
problems, the growers stated the following problems; the high cost of harvesting
(94%), the monopoly within the market where there are few exporters and
middlemen (78.5%), and price fluctuations (75%). The main requirements for
expanding the production were; the availability of the information about quality
standards (76.3%) and the availability of high quality seeds (75%). The marketing
requirements were; pre-contracting (87.5%) and exporters commitment with growers
(66.5%).
It’s, also, stated the weakness of the agricultural extension in developing the
knowledge and skills of the growers regarding the production and exporting of the
medicinal and aromatic plants. Finally, the study has shown that both the extension
staff and growers have a low level of recognition for the quality standards required
for exporting the chamomile where 10.8% and 15% of them respectively are in the
high recognition category.


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