101 



that it is going to take many years for a transformation. I think 

 the prospects are, however, that market principles will prevail. 



The final point I would make on that is that their final solutions 

 to this problem are going to bear little resemblance to the structure 

 of agriculture in this country, at least for quite some time. What 

 to do to improve the program? To me, the most effective thing we 

 can do is provide some linkage between technical assistance and 

 capital. It is very easy to give them the technical assistance. They 

 will accept it. They will believe it, they would like to act, but then 

 they got the problem, how do you get it going unless you have some 

 capital? 



We had a program in Poland that did that. There is no time to 

 go into the details of it here, it was very successful in Poland and 

 I would strongly recommend that for the NIS. I think if you want 

 to get the most bang for very few bucks, I think the best way to 

 do that is by distributing extension materials. You can get 10,000 

 copies of a pamphlet on grain storage, for example, 24-page pam- 

 phlet reproduced in the Soviet Union for $400. They are essentially 

 free. The network exists to distribute these, several networks. 



The farmers' organizations, the command structure of Soviet ag- 

 riculture is still in place down to the county level. They are won- 

 dering what to do. They are searching for new roles. It could be 

 used extremely effectively. 



I think a third point, we need to rethink the concepts of model 

 farms. The typical model farm that we come up with often is quite 

 irrelevant and more of a curiosity than 'anything else and to a great 

 extent, unattainable by most of the peasants and it is something 

 that does not really address the social problems that have to be 

 solved as part of the new model. 



I think what we need to do, Mr. Chairman, is work with indige- 

 nous model farms, the real success stories, and make sure that 

 they succeed and that is the better line to giving them demonstra- 

 tions. 



Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I would like to have my 

 written testimony in the record and will answer any questions 

 later. 



[The prepared statement of Mr. Evans appears at the conclusion 

 of the hearing.] 



Mr. Penny. Without objection, your written testimony will be in- 

 cluded in the record, and I appreciate the summary which you have 

 provided which does hit on all the main topics in your written testi- 

 mony in a very cogent fashion. We appreciate that. 



We will move to the professor next and then have questions for 

 each of you. Professor Gashler. 



STATEMENT OF TED GASHLER, ASSOCIATE DEAN, TRADE & IN- 

 DUSTRY DIVISION, NORTHCENTRAL TECHNICAL COLLEGE, 

 WAUSAU, WI 



Mr. Gashler. I appreciate the opportunity, Mr. Chairman, to ad- 

 dress this committee today and talk about my experiences as a 

 VOCA volunteer in Russia and what I found works and what does 

 not work in United States assistance to Russia. My name is Ted 

 Gashler. I am associate dean at Northcentral Technical College in 

 Wausau, Wisconsin. 



