day-to-day farm planning and operations. Therefore,
the number and quality of trained technical and professional
personnel in agricultural meteorology are
critical factors since the effectiveness of any agricultural
meteorology service is determined by the
competence and qualifications of its staff. To sustain
this service, there is need for qualified personnel capable
and willing to play this role. In addition to those
employed in the agrometeorological services, much
greater knowledge of the subject is needed within
both the user and the research communities.
This paper presents a selected overview of the current
status together with a projection of the future
needs for agrometeorological education and training.
Education and training have a common objective, i.e.
development of human resources: however, there are
specific differences between them.
1.2. The concept of education
The Oxford English Dictionary defines education
as ‘systematic instruction, schooling or training given
to the young and to adults in preparation for the work
of life’. Education includes the development of sound
reasoning processes to enhance one’s ability to understand
and interpret information. The concept of education,
by and large, includes activities directed at
providing information, understanding skills, and moral
values that are required in the normal course of life.
Providing information and skills is not for a limited
scope or activity but focuses on a wide range of activities.
The main aim of education is to create circumstances
and opportunities for youth and adults to learn,
among other things, cultures and natural laws and to
acquire skills, including languages, that form the basis
for learning, personal development, creativity and
communications. Education, therefore, broadens ones
scientific base and is usually of long duration. For a
professional career in such a multidisciplinary area as
agricultural meteorology the educational process must
particularly enable practitioners to find and use information
from a range of sciences other than their own.
1.3. The concept of training
The Oxford English Dictionary defines training as
the training of a person for some