AGRICULTURE EXTENSION SERVICES

Another key input to farm sector is ‘agriculture extension services (AES)’. These services can improve productivity by providing timely advisory services to farmers to adopt best practices, technology, meet with contingencies, market information etc. The AES (also called ‘rural advisory services’) has been defined47 as “consisting of all the different activities that provide the information and services needed and demanded by farmers and

other actors in rural settings to assist them in developing their own technical, organisational and management skills and practices so as to improve their livelihoods and well-being”.

Though there are multiple agencies in India offering agricultural advisory services the system is not efficient enough due to the following reasons:48

(i) Lack of functional autonomy,

(ii) Rigid hierarchical structures leading to lack of innovative methods of providing extension services, and

(iii) Coordination failures at multiple levels.

For the improvement of the AES in the country the suggested policy steps are:49

(i) Implementing a new scheme or additional outlays in existing schemes.

(ii) Need of ‘one-stop-shop’ that offers both hardware and software solutions to raise the incomes of farmers, especially small and marginal farmers.

(iii) Need of an approach which is ‘neutral to input, crop and region’.

(iv) Minimizing wastage in inputs as well as produce, till it leaves the farm gate.

(v) Efforts to enhance post harvest processing/value added activities at the farm.

(vi) Need to share with the farmer, information on weather, in order to improve yield, and minimize damage to crops.

(vi) Promoting inter and rotational cropping and efficient utilization of the inputs.

(vii) Need to shift to demand-driven agricultural advisory services.

(viii) Need of a virtual connect, using IT (mobile and internet) and integration of agricultural extension services.

Over the time, the GoI has taken variety of initiatives50 to strengthen the AES in the country, major ones being – Kisan TV set up; broadcasting of agri-information by AIR; Agri-Clinic & Agri-Business (by agriculture graduates); Extension education institutes set up; model training courses for

horticulture, animal husbandry, etc started; National Centre for Management of Agricultural Extension (acronym for which is MANAGE ) set up as an apex institute to train middle and senior level officers of the states/UTs.