17.05.12

The International Certified Crop Adviser (ICCA) Program of the American Society of Agronomy (ASA) is reaching 20 years of existence. The program started in the early 1990’s and is now established in Canada, India along with the United States. There are approximately 13,000 CCAs globally truly making the program “international”.

The program started in India with the first exam in 2010. There are 240 Indian CCAs. CCA – India was part of a large grant opportunity, Cereal Systems Initiative for South Asia (CSISA) funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and US-AID. CSISA is focused on increasing rice and wheat yields to expand food production for combating starvation and poverty. The funders thought CCA would add the professional development piece to the project for those who advise farmers on their agronomic production. The project also includes the countries of Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Interestingly enough, the invitation to take the Program to South Asia has also coincided with other countries wanting to do the same thing. Argentina and Mexico are developing their exam performance objectives and establishing the infrastructure through ASA with plans to offer the first exams in 2012. Several other countries have begun exploratory discussions with no definite plans yet - Australia, Brazil, Kenya, Liberia, Micronesia, Scotland/Britain and South Africa.

Source: PrecisionAg