A fact-finding team visited Lithuania August 4-9, 1997 to study the prospects for developing a research and demonstration farm in the Siauliai district of Lithuania. A 52 hectare (134 acres) farm can be made available for this development through the donation or long-term lease by Vytautas J. Sliupas. The farm was part of the possessions of Jonas Sliupas, father of Vytautas, who was a notable author, physician, and strong proponent of political independence of Lithuania. The farm was nationalized by the government during the Soviet occupation of Lithuania for 50 years ending in 1991. The land has been resumed to Mr. V. Sliupas and it is his wish to make this land available for use for the benefit of the people of Lithuania. An agricultural education, research and demonstration farm was visualized by Mr. Sliupas for development at this site. Mr. Sliupas has a vision to establish a nonprofit organization to assist in the development of Lithuanian agriculture and help Lithuanian farmers become self-sufficient and competitive in a free market economy.

Thus, it was the charge to the team to learn about the needs and opportunities for such a farm and to recommend to Mr. Sliupas a course of action that would make the best use of the property. The team was accompanied by Mr. Sliupas, who made arrangements to visit the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, the Chairman of the Lithuanian Science Council, scientists and administrators at the Institute of Agriculture Science and Institute for Animal Science, local government officials, and finally, and most importantly, the farmers in the neighborhood of the farmland and forest land. Legal counsel has been retained to interpret Lithuanian law and to develop structure of a Lithuanian organization to accommodate the goals and activities of a research and demonstration farm. Detailed itinerary and visitations are given as an Appendix to this report. Also appended are details concerning the physical location and characteristics of the farm.

• Lithuania is undergoing drastic and dynamic changes in agricultural production and marketing. Many farmer collective farms have been abandoned or converted to smaller production units, known as bendroves or Joint Stock Companies with varying degrees of success. These larger farming operations, about 5,000 in number, represent only a small percentage of the farm population. Currently, there are over 100,000 private farmers with an average holding of 7-8 hectares (about 17 acres). In addition, there are over 250,000 part time farmers with holdings between 1 and 3 hectares.
• Outside of the Lithuanian Parliament Agriculture Committee there are no farmer oriented organizations to support and promote national farm policies. Those farmer oriented organizations that exist provide some educational workshops which appear to be available only to the larger farming operations. The Farmers Union is the most popular type of organization in the countryside, but support for the organization varies widely from district to district. The Farmers Union's role in influencing national farm policy seems minimal.
• Lithuania has 3.5 million hectares of agricultural land of which 2.3 million hectares are arable and 1.2 million are in pasture. On the arable land 41% is forage crops., 48% is in small grains (17% barley, 14% wheat, 5% potatoes, and 3% sugar and fodder beets.) Orchard and vegetable crops are a very minor component of the crops grown.
• Lithuania is heavily agricultural in its economy and occupation of its citizens. It has potential to supply other countries with raw and processed foods, but is presently importing products that could be locally produced. It has surplus production of wheat which can be used against trade deficits in international markets.
• The political climate, as judged through the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry, is favorable to agricultural development at the community and national levels.
• Lithuania has a long-established agricultural research system with a series of institutes located throughout the country. The research programs are active, but limited resources contract the scope of their work. The Siauliai region, where the Sliupas farm is located, was cited by officials at the institutes as being deficient in research and education.
• The Lithuanian Science Council and the Institute of Agricultural Science expressed strong support for development of a research and demonstration site in the Siauliai region. Similar support was expressed by the Director of the Agricultural Advisory Service. There are the beginnings of an Agricultural Extension Service designed to provide the educational and applied technologies to Lithuanian farmers. n iS; however, inadequately supported and funded to meet the long term needs of the total farm population. Local government officials gave enthusiastic support and pledged (1) development of an access road to the farm site, (2) delivery of electricity, and (3) repair of the underground drainage tiles, ditches, and levees that exist on or provide service to the farm.
• A meeting with about 20 local farmers was enlightening to understand their needs and expectations for a research and demonstration farm. Their support was enthusiastic.
• The review team toured the farm and forest land and studied soil analyses. The soil was representative of the local area, having at least three soil types, m.moderate slope, and good potential for high productivity.
• The forest land on the site is of exceptional high value for selective harvest of lumber and as a wildlife reserve. The potential exists to develop an forest ecological and management component to the site by utilizing the resources of the forest owned by Mr. Sliupas as well as surrounding forested areas.
• It was reported to the team that 54.64 ha (142 acres)of adjacent land, including farm and forest land, would be available for purchase and could ba incorporated into project. This option was reviewed favorably by the team, as this would bring the total land area to 106 ha (276 acres) and would give greater flexibility and scope for the project.
• The site is somewhat remotely located from major roads and is 10-15 km from a market center. It is about the same distance from an important agricultural school, which the director expressed support and cooperation for the project. The team attempted to assess the positive and negative aspects of the remoteness of the farm. Considering how a research and demonstration farm could be effectively operated and the potential for increased economic activities in the region, a successful research and demonstration farm would be recognized for its value and would become widely known as an important asset to the region. Experience in the US has shown that experimental farms should not be closely associated with urban areas. On balance, the remoteness was not viewed as a deterrent to the success of the project.
• The review team was satisfied that the technical and organizational aspects of the project could be adequately developed, but found that a sustainable financing scheme for the project was perhaps the greatest challenge to be met.

• The concept of the education, research and demonstration farm is valid and could provide great service to Lithuania. Emphasis and the mission of the farm should be directed to teaching and demonstration of modem farming technologies followed by utilization of the farm for more basic research. In addition to teaching basic farm production techniques in crop science and animal husbandry, the farm should be used as a teaching center providing local farmers with the opportunity to participate in workshops to teach leadership, decision marketing skills, credit and finance, financial planning, equipment maintenance, marketing, record keeping, and how to utilize farmer associations to obtain additional services and needs.
• The legal structure of the organization is critical to the immediate and long term viability of the project. Based on advice from legal counsel, it is recommended that a nonprofit, non-governmental Lithuanian organization be formed. This organization would operate and far facilitate the management of funds, determine program activities, and operate the research h and demonstration farm, and other activities relevant to the advancement of agriculture throughout Lithuania. This organization is tentatively identified as The Jonas Sliupas Foundation for Lithuanian Agricultural Development ((JSFLAD).
• JSFLAD would be founded by Vytautas Sliupas and governed by a Board of Trustees. The Board would include appropriate representation from the government of Lithuania, research and advisory scientists, local farmers, educators, and others, as appropriate.
• A financial basis for the Foundation must be developed and a plan for generating annual operational funds for the Foundation's activities. This recommendation must be addressed before further development of the project can proceed.
• It is recommended that the site development of the farm be conducted in several phases to accommodate the soil types, drainage system, building sites, research and educational project needs, and general esthetics of the property.

Phase 1: Verify the soil survey of the farm site. Design layout of the farm to accommodate the variations in soil types.
Phase 2: Repair drainage system, initiate access road construction to farm site and begin providing electricity.
Phase 3: Develop crop rotation plan that addresses soil and slope characteristics of the site. Design and develop internal road access structure. This plan should be compatible with anticipated future research and demonstration projects.
Phase 4: Design and develop access to forest areas and begin to develop educational research plans for forest and wildlife management. Also, explore the possibility of developing a nature reserve for the forest areas.
Phase 5: Begin uniform cropping according to the planned field designs and crop rotation in 1997 to gain experience with the design and for immediate income generation for the JSFLAD. Hire a farm manager who is knowledgeable in local and modem farming operations who is capable of working with research and education specialists to accomplish the mission of the farm.
Phase 6: Develop infrastructure needs, housing, barns, shops, equipment, etc.
Phase 7: Begin farming operations in the second half of 1998 to offset farm center costs.
 
• The project is dedicated to the improvement of well-being of Lithuanians working in agriculture, but also for the good of the economy of the whole country. To this end, active support and collaboration is needed from the government, agricultural organizations, and the private sector. The review team was satisfied that there was great interest in the project from the local and government levels, and recommends that specific assurances of financial or in-kind support be provided by government agencies and others.
• The enthusiastic support of the local farmers and agricultural school should not be lost. Active involvement of farmers and students in planning and actual development of the farm would sustain their interest and 'ownership' in the concept and the farm.
• A socio-economic survey of local farmers and communities would be beneficial to establish a benchmark for their current states and to aid in designing programs to meet both short and long term needs. This activity should result in a positive image for the project.
• The farm offered for the proJect is bash^ally sound, but requires development from outside the project (drainage, roads, and electricity) and within the project (water well, roads, staff housing, sold survey, buildings, machinery). Given that these needs could be provided, the review team gives enthusiastic support to the development of the research and demonstration farm.
• Farmers deliver their products to buyers, but often do not receive payment for many months or not at all. Most commodities are grown under contract; however, many farmers crops are refused by the buyer at harvest leaving the farmer without income from his production. Farmers, generally, have no recourse in the court system to seek recourse for this breach of contract. This is a serious limitation to their economic development. Perhaps outside the scope of the proposed farm, but relevant to the goals. is an obvious need few a structured payment scheme as Lithuania advances more strongly to market driven society.

• Vegetable crop products are presently imported in large quantities from Poland. Astute selection of vegetable crops for Lithuanian production offers a good opportunity for agriculture and for the food processing industry, especially for frozen vegetables. Thus there could be opportunity for developing vegetable crop production and a processing plant in the Siauliai region.
• Marketing (techniques) and access for local and national markets is an identified priority of the local farmers. The opportunity exists to educate and facilitate the exchange of information through the project farm to local farmers and farmers in the region.
• Apple juice is imported from Poland yet apples are ubiquitous throughout Lithuania. Why not examine the reasons for this and to explore possibilities for more orchard production, in addition to the extensive home garden production? An orchard area of the farm could be dedicated to observations on numerous varieties and for vegetative propagation purposes.
• Livestock, primarily dairy, is a major part of Lithuanian agriculture. The country produces forage and feed grains in great abundance. The team heard from some interviewees that there may be good potential for beef cattle production in Lithuania. This could provide an additional local use for grain production. At the same time, the more productive winter cereal, triticale (a wheat- rye hybrid) could introduced as a feed grain to replace some wheat production. Wheat varieties presently grown in Lithuania an deficient in bread making properties. A strategy of breeding and introducing high quality wheat for the milling and baking and introducing high yielding triticale for feed grain could be explored as an alternative cropping strategy that may be a good alternative to the marketing of quality deficient wheat internationally.
• Farmers in immediate region of the farm site explained that they were limited by access to farm machinery because of lack of financial program for loans. A suggestion that a 'machinery park' be formed that could provide machinery on a loan basis was viewed as an attractive opportunity. The team expected that this would have potential for machinery to be donated hr this purpose; a negative factor would be a problem of equitably sharing the equipment among the farmers. Another option would be to establish a farm service center on the farm site to assist local farmers by providing crop inputs such as fertilizer, pesticides, machinery service and custom cultural operations on a fee basis.
• The agricultural research institute at Dotnuva conducts plant breeding in several crops, but the new strains are not tested in the Siauliai region. The breeders viewed the experimental farm as an appropriate site for testing and selecting new varieties of grain and forage crops.
• The forest lands on the farm are sufficient to demonstrate alternative forest management practices, such as extractive harvest methods; there is opportunity for income to be derived from the sale of forest products. The wood could be used in construction of buildings and fences on the site.
• The forest lands, especially if the adjoining land was procured, could also be managed as a nature reserve, since it supports elk and other wildlife. This could become a local recreational attraction, and possibly a site for eco- and agro-tourism.
• The farm could be a model few ecological sound management and at the same time it could revitalize old farmer traditions and demonstrate them with a museum and cultural activities. Sustainable crop rotation systems and environment-friendly pest management methods should be researched and demonstrated on field-scale to the extent possible. Lithuania is emerging from a long period of external dominance in all aspects of the life of its people. This provides a good opportunity to study the current situation, socio-economically, of farmers and villagers in the Siauliai region. A systematic study using suitable survey documents would provide valuable benchmark data and provide guidance few research and development of appropriate technologies for farmers and village communities.
• The formation of farmer associations and cooperatives could have significant economic benefit to agriculture in the form\ of opening markets, assisting in policy decisions, and equipment pooling. The agricultural education and research center farm has the potential to assist local and regional farmers through international access to current information on markets and other national/international farmers organizations.
• The acquisition and distribution of reliable information to farmers has come to the technological age. The agricultural and research h center farm a~could become a center for the acquisition and exchange of information and the teaching of the methodologies necessary to facilitate the exchange of information.

The fact finding team concluded that a positive environment exists for the development of an educational, research and demonstration farm on the land owned by V. Sliupas. Discussions with Lithuanian government officials, educational institutions and local farmers support this observation. The farm site in question appears to lend itself well to development in concert with the vision of Mr. Sliupas. It is suggested that a phased development of the farm be initiated immediately, beginning with an accurate soil survey, followed by other necessary internal and infrastructure developments. The farm, and the concept of providing education, research and demonstration, lends itself well to the current and future trends of agricultural development in Lithuania. The potential exists for the study and development of many modem farming technologies that would be immediately available for application to Lithuanian farmers. The current limitation appears to be the acquisition of funds to support the project and an immediate search for an endowment and other sources of funds to sustain the future of the farm is necessary.

The team is profoundly grateful to Mr. Vytautas Sliupas for the opportunity to participate in this review. He arranged the meetings to perfection and gave us considerable historic insight to Lithuania and its people. we gained new friendships along the way and were encouraged by the enthusiasm of farmers, scientists, government workers, and others for the proposed project we especially thank Minister of Agriculture Dr. Vytauas Knasys and Professor Dr Leonas Kadziulis, President of the Science Council of Lithuania for their interest; background information and suggestions.

 Submitted by
L. Clement
C. Qualset
L. Ruth

 September 27, 1997