A team of Kansas National Guard soldiers spent a week in Manhattan last week to learn about different aspects of agriculture before they leave for Afghanistan's Laghman Province this spring as part of a three-year effort.

Craig Beardsley spoke of the effort saying that it's purpose will be to assess agriculture in Afghanistan determining the country's food production strengths and challenges. It's also to lay the groundwork for helping the area improve its

agricultural industry.

Beardsley, who is the program administrator of the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center (NABC) at K-State, worked with Ralph Richardson, the dean of K-State's College of Veterinary Medicine, along with Fred Cholick, who resides as dean of the College of Agriculture, to build a curriculum for the training.

"Faculty from four colleges at K-State-the College of Agriculture, Veterinary Medicine, Arts and Sciences, and Engineering - came together to work with us on this comprehensive curriculum," said Beardsley, who retired from the National Guard in 2005 after 35 years of service. "They really stepped up to work with this Guard group. This is in addition to their already busy teaching and research schedules."

"This was a great opportunity for us to partner with the Kansas National Guard," said Cholick, also a director of K-State

Research and Extension. "This training program is an excellent example of K-State fulfilling the land grant mission. It's such an important effort that they (National Guard) are taking on, and we are happy to be part of the effort as they work with the citizens and government in Afghanistan to bolster their agricultural industry."

This Kansas National Guard group, called the Agribusiness Development Team (ADT), is composed of 64 soldiers and airmen. Some of these service men and women will work on the agriculture assessments and assistance and some of whom will act as support and security for the group, Beardsley said. The team is led by Col. Eric Peck, of Manhattan.

At K-State, the team heard presentations on topics from agriculture itself to irrigation and food safety. They also learned about soil composition to small grain production and harvest and post-harvest handling of crops. Livestock production, pest management, vegetable and fruit production were also part of the training.

Beardsley said that a there have been a few other states sending similar teams to other regions of Afghanistan coordinated by the National Guard Bureau, which is part of the Department of Defense.

"But this, I believe, is the first state National Guard that has made a three-year commitment," he said, adding that when this team returns next year, another one will go in its place. The process repeats in the third year.

"The citizens of Afghanistan are used to the military providing security. The ADT is going to provide assistance," Beardsley said. "They're going to have to convince people that they're there to work with them, not tell them what to do."

To that end, the team will meet with agricultural producers and others in the agriculture industry to learn their specific challenges and insights.

K-State will provide ongoing support once the team is in Afghanistan, Beardsley said. The NABC will serve as a conduit for questions that arise from the team and also to find answers to those questions and relay them back. Video conferences are also planned between team members and K-State faculty.

"All the while," Beardsley said, "those questions, answers and feedback will help us fine tune the process, which will benefit the training of the second and third teams that follow this first one."