Development of extension services – a challenge for the RDI flow in the agriculture of the Republic of Moldova

Considerable efforts to create a professional and effective rural extension service in the Republic of Moldova have been made in the last decade. Unfortunately, there are currently limited institutional connections between the components of knowledge in agriculture in Moldova and information system, for example, between institutions of agricultural research, extension and education/ training. These three components work independently, while collaboration is limited to involvement of researchers and professors as consultants in shortterm projects of the extension service. Therefore, the Republic of Moldova lacks a permanent platform for communication and cooperation, aimed at serving the common needs of the private sector. Agricultural science and innovative policy development should stimulate obtaining new knowledge, highly productive biological material, intensify innovation activities in agro-industrial sector, while creating conditions for absorbing local and foreign innovations through the range of measures, such as: research, development and innovation (RDI) activities focused on priority directions of the sector development; stimulating innovative scientific activities in order to create new varieties and hybrids of plants and highly productive breeds of animals, applying advanced farming and processing of raw materials; promotin the creation and implementation of a system of economic incentives for attracting and absorbing innovations in the sector; deepening economic research to ensure scientific support for the sustainable development of the agribusiness sector; modernizing the training and retraining of the staff from the agricultural education sector and adjustment of the quality of education to market requirements; supporting the development of technological transfer and extension network in agro-industrial sector (Government of the Republic of Moldova, 2008).