I'm organizing a project in Virginia to use SLIP connections and high speed
modems to link a small group of farmers together into an experimental
network with agency personnel, extension agents and specialists, and
researchers. The idea is to promote sustainable agriculture by encouraging
the development of an informed, interacting virtual community of farmers
addressing common problems in the implementation of sustainable practices.
I'm interested in three things. One, I hope you might have some statistics
on the number of farmers who currently access the internet. (I did see the
recent posting on this question and have contacted the sender about sharing
the responses).
Two, I wonder if you are aware of any other projects around the country
that are linking farmers electronically (I know there are several farmer
networking projects, but I don't know about any that use internet).
Third, I would like to know whether you could identify a possible
collaborator in North Carolina who might like to work with our group. We
are now completely Virginia based, but would benefit from outside input.
There are many issues to be addressed once two regions are attached, from
agronomic to sociological.
I would be happy to discuss this further.
--Nick Stone
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Nicholas D. Stone ISIS Lab
Department of Entomology Phone: (703) 231-6885
202 Price Hall FAX: (703) 231-9131
Virginia Tech Internet: nick@vt.edu
Blacksburg, VA 24060 BITNET: nstone@vtvm1
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