Three potato and onion growers, and one potato researcher from Albania, visited the United States, funded by the Cochran Fellowship Program. The Cochran Fellowship Program is part of the US Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agrucultural Service.
These training programs are designed and organized in conjunction with US universities, USDA and other government agencies, agribusinesses, and Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service.
The objectives of the visit are as follows:
- Exposure to new, relevant growing and harvest technologies that can be adopted in Albania.
- Exposure to new cultivars, production practices and general agricultural management;post-harvest practices will be of major interest.
- The interaction between private sector and public sector in agricultural (especially potato and onion) research and production, increasing participant's knowledge on the role of extension services.
- US distribution system for potato and onion products.
The group arrived in Fargo on Sunday, August 19th and were met by there host, Hugh Dufner, an organic vegetable grower from Moorhead, MN. The group met with the North Dakota State University staff involved in the potato industry, they traveled to irrigated potato farms to see early harvest and packing shed facilities.
They also came to East Grand Forks, Minnesota to visit the NPPGA and learn about Association activities, the USDA's Potato Research Laboratory, and the Minnesota Seed Potato Inspection Office to learn about standards and potato inspection services.
The group attended the NPPGA Field Day on August 23rd to listen to important information from researchers from North Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota.
They also came to East Grand Forks, Minnesota to visit the NPPGA and learn about Association activities, the USDA's Potato Research Laboratory, and the Minnesota Seed Potato Inspection Office to learn about standards and potato inspection services.
The group attended the NPPGA Field Day on August 23rd to listen to important information from researchers from North Dakota State University and the University of Minnesota.
