By Professor Jan Douwe van der Ploeg

Based at the Wageningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands, Professor van der Ploeg is acknowledged as one of Europe's leading agricultural sociologists.

Professor van der Ploeg is the third speaker in the Regeneration series

Wales has been leading the way in rural development - there is one scheme which I believe that Europe should follow and that is Tyr Gofal.

It is unique - it covers all of Wales and is open to nearly all its farmers.

It provides significant income for farmers, it has a real impact on the local economy and one of its great beauties is that it involves very little bureaucracy.

Obviously, because it is popular, it is oversubscribed but I believe as European agriculture continues to struggle (as it has been for more than a decade) schemes such as Tyr Gofal are a real response which is being developed to overcome this ever-deepening crisis.

As far as the UK is concerned, the interesting detail is that Wales is far ahead of England.

Other members of the European Union have, and are developing, similar agri-environmental schemes but most of them are very limited in their scope, and are very rigid.

They need to realise that rural development is more than conserving the landscape and nature - the countryside is not a museum or a theme park.

The new agri-environmental schemes are developing an impressive range of new products and services, while also establishing new networks which link them with society at large.

Lagging behind

Many farmers are developing new regional products of a very high quality - and they are doing this while moving over to more sustainable and organic methods of production. They are re-introducing food processing to the farm and developing shirt chains linking production and consumption.

Europe as a whole is offering a huge diversity as far as the development of these new activities is concerned - especially Italy and Germany. The number of farms involved is high and they earning lots of extra income.

There are three countries lagging behind - England, Spain and, I am afraid to say, my homeland, the Netherlands.

As far as the UK is concerned, the interesting detail is that Wales is far ahead of England. The additional income generated in Welsh agriculture through new activities is twice as high as that over the border.

The European Union is strongly moving towards rural development as a major policy for the countryside and agriculture.

Within this, Wales is on track and I urge Welsh farmers and politicians to build on this and anticipate as much as possible 2007, and beyond, in order to use the new funding possibilities that will be available from Europe.

If you would like more details about the regeneration lecture series for 2004, please email regen@bbc.co.uk