Agriculture Extension Services in India | Agriculture Optional Notes for UPSC PDF Download

Agriculture Extension Services in India

Agricultural Extension Services in India are extended through the following entities:

• Public Sector Organizations: These include government bodies like the Ministries of Agriculture or Rural Development.
• Private Sector Organizations: Private sector entities such as agro-based dealers, the crop science industry, seed and input companies, technology providers, and those involved in buying agricultural products.
• Non-Profit or Non-Governmental Organizations: Non-profit or non-governmental organizations, as well as commodity boards and farmer-based organizations, also play a role in delivering these services.

The Public Extension System

This system is responsible for Extension Services, and it encompasses various entities, including:

• Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs)
• State Agriculture Departments
• ICAR Organisations
• Agriculture Universities
• Agriculture Technology Management Agencies (ATMAs)
• A range of other Central and State Government bodies.

Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA)

• ATMA is a collaborative platform involving multiple agencies, with a focus on implementing procedural and institutional reforms.
• It operates as a registered organization responsible for disseminating technology at the district level.
• ATMA connects various district-level line departments, research institutions, non-governmental organizations, and agencies working on agricultural development.
• Its member constituents encompass research and extension units, agriculture departments, animal husbandry, horticulture, fisheries, and other relevant sectors.

ATMA-KVK (Krishi Vigyan Kendras) Linkage

• The linkage between ATMA and Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) should be reinforced by promoting functional interdependence.
• KVKs play a crucial role in the frontline extension system.

National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology (NMAET)

National Mission on Agricultural Extension and Technology (NMAET) is dedicated to ensuring that farmers can access reasonably priced seeds, pesticides, and machinery.
The key functions of NMAET include:

• Utilizing knowledge centers to promote sustainable farming practices and provide training to farmers, extension organizations, and other stakeholders.
• Collaborating with knowledge generators to collect and distribute information to beneficiaries through various communication channels.
• Focusing on the development of underprivileged farmer groups in challenging regions with low agricultural productivity.
• Establishing effective connections at the grassroots level through platforms such as farmers' portals and Kisan call centers.
• Creating employment opportunities, both on and off the farm, for young individuals through a range of interventions and programs.

Kisan Call Centre (KCC)

Kisan Call Centre (KCC) is a project with the objective of addressing farmers' inquiries over the phone in their local language.
Key features of KCC include:

• Accessibility via mobile phones and landlines on any telecom network, including private service providers.
• Employment of Farm Tele Advisors (FTAs), who are Kisan Call Center agents with a bachelor's degree or higher in agriculture or related fields, and proficiency in their respective local languages.
• Handling questions that FTAs cannot answer through call conferencing with subject matter experts from state agricultural departments, ICAR, and state agricultural universities.
• Unique features such as 100% call recording, call barging, voice mail service, customized IVRs, call conferencing with experts, playing state-specific advisories during call wait times, sending SMS to farmers with a summary of answers provided by FTAs, and enabling farmer registration to receive SMS updates from experts on selected crop-related topics.

National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management

• It is a self-governing organisation within the Department of Agriculture, Cooperation, and Farmers' Welfare.
• Its mission is to help state and federal governments improve agricultural extension management services.

Extension Education Institutes (EEIs)

• A higher level of the system that focuses on unique and new agricultural or farming, poultry/livestock, and so on experiments.
• It guarantees that the appropriate areas' capacity is built.

SAMETI (State Agriculture Management and Extension Training Institute)

• They are a part of the ATMA component of the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Extension's (SAME) state-level institutional system .
• These institutions are in charge of providing capacity-building support, consulting services relating to project planning, appraisal, implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and so on, as well as organising need-based training programmes.

Extension Services Provided by Individuals

• Private Extension Services include seed, fertiliser, pesticides, machinery, credit, insurance, contract farming, export, and consultancy services, among other things.
• Furthermore, this system includes various private enterprises such as progressive farmers, farmers' organisations (CIGs, FPOs), and cooperatives as direct stakeholders.
• Other private players include agri-entrepreneurs, input dealers, NGOs, private banks, private media, donor agencies, consulting firms, and so on.

Benefits of Agriculture Extension Services

• Enhancing Agricultural Productivity: It plays a pivotal role in increasing agricultural productivity by introducing farmers to modern and effective farming techniques and technologies.
• Improving Food Security: Agricultural extension services contribute to food security by helping farmers produce more and better-quality crops.
• Boosting Rural Livelihoods: These services are essential for improving the livelihoods of rural farmers, ensuring that they have the knowledge and skills needed for successful farming.
• Promoting Pro-Poor Economic Growth: They promote agriculture as a pro-poor economic growth engine, benefiting disadvantaged farming communities.
• Addressing New Agricultural Challenges: Agricultural extension services help farmers address new challenges in agriculture, such as changes in marketing, food safety standards, and nonfarm rural job opportunities.
• Precision in Agricultural Planning: They assist farmers in developing precise agricultural plans or programs tailored to their specific needs, resources, and goals.
• Introducing Innovative Technologies: Extension services introduce farmers to innovative farming technologies and practices from around the world.
• Potent Tool with Complementary Elements: When combined with price incentives, input supply, financing, and seed multiplication, agricultural extension becomes a powerful instrument for agricultural development.
• Bridging the Gap: Extension services act as a bridge between agricultural development organizations (e.g., research institutes, universities, and agricultural colleges) and the target populations (farmers).
• Historical Focus on Empowerment: Historically, agricultural extension services have primarily aimed at empowering farmers by addressing their health, education, livelihood, and income needs.
• Providing Information and Knowledge: They empower farmers by providing essential information, knowledge, technology, skills, and risk management strategies from various agricultural sub-sectors.
• Understanding the Value Chain: Extension services help farmers understand the significance of the agricultural value chain, enabling them to enhance their net income sustainably.

Agriculture Extension Services - Challenges

• Impractical Advice:
  • One major concern raised by those who have access to extension services is the practicality of the advice provided.
  • Agricultural extension in India has traditionally emphasized production aspects, while contemporary farmer needs are more market-oriented.
• Misinformation:
  • Public extension services offer advisory guidance, but input supply is dominated by the private sector, leading to confusion.
  • Despite receiving accurate advice from public extension services, farmers often buy incorrect inputs influenced by aggressive sales tactics of private input dealers.
• Exclusion of Extension Assistance:
  • Enhancing the effectiveness of the weather forecasting information system as part of extension services requires integration with other environmental data like ground cover, soil type, soil attributes, soil radiation, temperature, moisture, and long-term drought conditions.
• Limited Use of Extension Workers:
  • Only 4.8% of small landholders consider extension workers their primary information source, in contrast to 9.8% of medium farmers and 12.4% of large farmers.
  • Farmers in remote and disadvantaged regions seldom interact with extension agents.
  • Specialized, client-centric extension approaches focusing on livelihoods rather than technology transfer are essential for such areas.
• Lack of Qualified Extension Personnel:
  • State government agriculture departments remain the primary agricultural extension agencies in India in terms of staff and geographical reach.
  • India has just 0.12 million agricultural extension workers serving 141 million hectares of cultivated land and 158 million operational holdings.
  • The number of extension workers in India is only one-sixth that of China.
  • Serving a widely dispersed farming population with diverse information needs is a formidable challenge given the limited number of extension personnel.
  • Additionally, most extension personnel are overburdened with multiple roles and responsibilities.

Conclusion

Indian agriculture is confronted with serious issues such as a large yield gap, a large number of smallholders, input-use imbalances, and declining natural-resource productivity. Financial, infrastructural, and human resource constraints constrain extension systems in India, which play an important role in addressing these concerns. There is an immediate need to increase extension investment.