Articles
RESEARCH DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION: PROMOTION, DIFFUSION AND PROTECTION OF NOVELTIES; INSTITUTIONS CONNECTING RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION; RELATIONS BETWEEN RESEARCH EDUCATION AND TECHNICAL TRAINING. THE CASE OF ITALY
In fact, too often the researcher is convinced that, once the results are obtained and published, or the prototype is made, his work is accomplished: the task of diffusion of the results is not of his concern and other people should be involved, eventually with his help, but certainly seldom directly.
On the other side, very often possible users simply ignore the existance of new products or new technologies and then are not in the condition to use the novelties.
This problem is even more difficult in agriculture, since farmers to be contacted are many (in some instances in thousands, scattered over large areas, difficult to reach, and, finally, not easy to convince to change, unless proper evidence is provided).
This is why in many countries specialized "Agricultural Extension Services" have been estabilished, with the specific task of both trasferring research results to users and user’s needs to researchers, for finding possible and economical solutions.