Jeff Olsen’s Summary of Professional Accomplishments with an International Focus

Personal Data

Name: Jeff Olsen Rank: Professor

Department: Horticulture Specialty: Orchard Crops

Date Hired at OSU: Nov. 14, 1983 Date of Last Promotion: July 1, 2000

EDUCATION AND EMPLOYMENT INFORMATION:

Years University Degree Major (Field)
1970-73, 79-81 Washington State University B.S. Horticulture
1981-83 Oregon State University M.S. Horticulture

Position Institution Dates

Extension Assistant Washington State University 10/77 - 10/78
Extension Assistant Oregon State University 4-10/83
Extension Horticulturist Oregon State University 11/83 – present

SUMMARY OF INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCES

France – 1992: I led a group of ten Oregon citizens on a three week tour of France called “Farmlands of France”. I planned the itinerary with American Heritage Travel of Portland, who served as the travel agency for the tour. The tour featured orchard industries in the south of France, and formal gardens and cultural experiences throughout France.

Japan – 1994: In the early 1990’s I worked with the Department of Horticulture in training Japanese Extension Agents. The Agents would train at various Universities in the United States for a period of two months. I taught them about orchard crops in Oregon. The teaching was a combination of classroom instruction and orchard tours. In 1994 the Japan America Foundation funded a three-week agricultural tour of Japan for ten U.S. University professionals. Each University that was actively involved in the training of the Japanese Extension Agents would be allowed to send one person on this exchange. I was chosen as the Oregon State University representative. The exchange was a combination of touring their agricultural industries, and us sharing our individual subject matter expertise. I gave formal presentations to Japanese growers and Extension professionals. We were featured on Japanese television, and in the news media of the regions that we traveled.

Turkey – 1996: In 1996 I traveled to Turkey to give two oral presentations on my Research and Extension work in hazelnuts at the Fourth International Symposium on Hazelnut in Ordu, Turkey. Prior to the Congress I helped lead a tour of Turkey and Greece with another OSU Extension Agent and six Oregonians in the Oregon hazelnut industry.

India – 2000: In June of 2000 I traveled to India and worked as a volunteer for Winrock International. The project was to start a walnut industry in the Himalayas of northern India in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Winrock has a regional office in New Delhi, India. While in India I worked with local farmers and villagers, the staffs of Winrock and two non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that requested technical assistance for the project. I traveled to two separate sites in the Himalayas where the two NGOs were headquartered. I extended information on all aspects of walnut production including: site selection for orchards, varieties appropriate to the environment, nursery production of native rootstocks, and cultural management of walnut orchards.

India – 2002: I traveled to India in February of 2002 as a Winrock International volunteer. This assignment was on peach orchard management in the Himalayas. Since I had worked in this region in 2002 my expertise in temperature tree fruits and nuts was known. In addition to working with peach growers I also gave orchard trainings in pruning apples. After my initial work on the walnut project, I helped facilitate a donation of improved varieties of walnuts from a nursery in California. While I was in India for this peach project, the walnut trees from California actually arrived. I worked with the local NGO on establishing walnut variety trials with the donated trees. They were busy planting the trees on the day that I returned to America.

Australia – 2002: The Hazelnut Growers of Australia sponsored my travel to Victoria and New South Wales, Australia in January of 2002. Officers of HGA hosted me in four hazelnut-growing districts. I gave four seminars on hazelnut orchard management, participated as a featured expert in four farm walks, and consulted with many growers and researchers active in Australia’s infant hazelnut industry. During the visit I was featured on the Australia Broadcasting Company radio, the regional agricultural weekly newspaper, local newspapers and I was honored with my picture on the front cover of the Australia Nut Grower magazine, which also contained two feature articles on my visit.

Cape Verde, Africa – 2003: I served as a volunteer for ACDI/VOCA in Cape Verde, Africa, from Aug. 14 to Sept. 9, 2003. I worked as a specialist in marketing fruits and vegetables with the staff of the local ACDI/VOCA office in Praia, Cape Verde. Cape Verde is an island nation, with ten islands in the archipelago that is located 300 miles off the coast of Senegal. The islands average about ten inches of rainfall per year, so much of the development effort involves water conservation practices. The local staff has successfully introduced drip irrigation technology to many farmers. This has doubled the water use efficiency and created opportunities for growing higher value crops in a multiple crop system. I served as the first volunteer for the local office. We made great progress in our study of the Cape Verdean marketing system, and made many suggestions for improvements.

Southern Africa – 2005: Oregon State University secured the lead in a USAID Rural Livelihoods Consortium grant to work in the southern African countries of Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. I travelled with a team from Penn. State and Washington State Universities focusing on value added processing and marketing. We targeted the use of indigenous tree fruits, and worked with the World Agro-forestry Center on methods of plant propagation and techniques to encourage earlier bearing of the native fruit trees.

Krasnodar, Russia – 2006: I completed a three week volunteer assignment with ACDI/VOCA as a technical consultant on a 1000 acre orchard of mostly apples, with some peaches and hazelnuts. I worked in the orchard everyday with the orchard manager.

Chile – 2006: I was hosted by the Hazelnut Growers of Oregon Chilean Branch to be the featured speaker at a workshop for hazelnut growers. In addition I consulted on site visits to several growers in the Pucon region of Chile.

India – 2007 and 2009: I worked on the following program in 2007 and 2009. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), under a $1.3 million Participating Agency Services Agreement (PASA), cooperated on a project called Strengthening Agricultural Marketing Systems (SAMS) for a three year period, from October 2005 through July 2009 in India. This U.S.-Agricultural Knowledge Initiative (AKI)-related program was a three-state pilot project to strengthen marketing systems in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Karnataka. Apart from the three local institutions involved in the SAMS project, the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India was a major stakeholder whose involvement is critical for the sustainability and replication of the project activities. The project is being coordinated by the National Institute of Agricultural Marketing (NIAM) and is being implemented in two pilot states, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh through their respective state agriculture marketing boards, i.e., KSMB & HPSMB. The SAMS program helps India develop marketing systems and build marketing relationships between private-public organizations and the central, state and local governments. Critical areas identified for USDA support and training provided in the areas of market news, grades and standards, market extension, good agricultural practices and warehouse receipt. USDA, Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) manages this project utilizing staff from USDA agencies, US private sector and US university community. Through training, consultations and access to U.S. agricultural research and experts, the program:
• Establishes marketing support systems such as information, grades and standards to foster the development of markets for Indian agricultural products domestically and internationally.
• Increases Indian institutions’ ability to introduce and share new procedures for quality and food safety standardization, crop and price forecasting, and market extension.
• Facilitates the development of warehousing and fosters the growth of a commodities futures market.
• Upgrades India’s marketing news information and marketing extension systems.