In order to fill the latent demand of the various homogeneous sub-groups which together make up a heterogeneous agriculture, advisory services must operate under the following principles : they must be closely linked with research ; their location in the field should spread down to each small agricultural region ; they should be actively concerned with the development of non agricultural activities. In post-war Italy, the extension services inherited from the fascist era were bureaucratic and centralized ; their performance was very poor. Since the regional reform of the seventies significant improvements have taken place, but at very inequal rates in the various regions.
