Education in the plant sciences in Afghanistan has suffered greatly from the departure of trained faculty and experienced agriculturalists and by damage to infrastructure during prolonged wars, beginning with the Soviet invasion in 1979. By the time NATO took over security in Kabul in 2003 the entire higher education system in Afghanistan was approaching collapse. The international community has been helping rebuild since 2002, pledging more than $21 billion in 2008 to help the country develop infrastructure and institutions. Purdue University, with support from USAID and USDA has been actively engaged in capacity building for higher education agriculture colleges, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Public Health. This session will cover efforts to promote the study of plant pathology, build an extension system and provide training in plant problem diagnostic skills in Afghanistan in the agriculture colleges and in the Ministry of Agriculture’s Plant Protection and Quality Department.
