摘要：Trends in public expenditure on agricultural extension are examined forAgriculture Departments in four States. There is little evidence that the share ofpublic resources going to extension has declined. However, new demands havemeant that the nature of extension has changed. A strategic approach to examiningissues, such as land degradation, for the source of market failure may better guidethe use of scarce public resources than the traditional focus on the public goodscharacteristics of research and extension. The case for evaluating broad functionssuch as research and extension is becoming more questionable as these functionsbecome more diverse.
