Changing Concepts And

Emerging Issues In

Extension- Rationale And

Realities; Recent

Extension Strategies For

Rural Upliftment; Future

Scenario Of Extension

Submitted to:- Submitted by:-

Dr. Dhriti Solanki Ms. Nishu Kanwar Bhati

Prof. and Head HECM Ph.D

Introduction

Agriculture accounts for about one-fourth of the Gross Domestic

product and is the source of livelihood or nearly two-thirds of the

population.Though Green Revolution has been the cornerstone of India’s

agricultural achievement, but remained restricted to the well-endowed

irrigated areas of the country showing gap between research and

extension.

Changing economic scenario calls for appropriate agricultural

technologies and agro-management practices to respond to food and

nutritional security, poverty alleviation, diversifying market demands,

export opportunities, and environmental concerns which pose new

challenges to the technology dissemination systems.

Community development approach to extension

Transfer of Technology approach

Farming system approach

Broad based approach

EMERGING ISSUES

•PUBLIC SECTOR

•PRIVATE SECTOR

•THIRD SECTOR

PUBLIC SECTOR

Confusion in multiplicity of service providers

Credibility of information sources

Conflict of interests

The private sector can only provide services related to proprietary goods, while the public sector can provide extension services related to public goods, which tend not to be addressed by private-sector firms.

Private extension only focus & deliver its services on areas with sufficient resources and is limited to a few crops and areas where profits can be assured

The private sector serves a corporate interest, working with individual farmers, so social capital is not built.

Private extension can only work well if farmers are willing and able to pay.

The private sector could serve the needs of medium-size and commercial farmers, while the public sector could work in remote areas which are currently not serviced well.

PRIVATE SECTOR

Public capacity to build FBOs and SHGs is limited

NGOs rely on donor funds and would need public support to develop the technical skills to facilitate the groups.

Within FBOs or SHGs, problems related to social identity, including gender and caste and are subject to elite capture problems.

When farmer groups interact with other institutions, social identities and other social status perceptions mean that they may be too weak to articulate their concerns

Limited financial strength

Lack professionalism because the members are less qualified

THIRD SECTOR

Continued focus on technology dissemination

Inadequate technical support for extension

Limited human and financial resources

Poor capacity to respond to changes and manage

partnerships

Technologies Irrelevant to Local Conditions

Lack of Forward and Backward Linkages

Lack of Infrastructure for Delivery of Technology

Other generic issues…………….

The best approach for a concrete situation depends on:

The wider context in which extension is taking place and the value concepts and principles which are common; - the objectives of the extension activity;

The extension institution with its own value concepts and principles and its form of organization - the target population with their value concepts and principles and their forms of organization;

The functions and procedures of extension based on the objectives and principles of the extension institution and the target group.

Extension approach

Objectives:

1. The main objective is topersuade and helpfarmers in increasingagricultural productionby adopting improvedagricultural practices.

2. It also aimed atimproving the ruralfamily life be educatedthe women and youth inthe rural family life byeducating the villagepeople.

Training approach in extension

It emphasizes only on systematic and

deeper learning of specific skills.

This approach involves assembling

learners in a training centre for a

sustained period of instruction.

The trained extension workers are

supposed to transmit the useful skills to

the rural people.

Cooperative self help approach

The chief motive power for rural development

must come from the people so that outside

help of various kinds can be provided in

response to the expressed needs of the

people.

There is heavy emphasis in this approach on

the building of local institutions for cooperative

self-help and governance.

Integrated development

approach

The IADP used the integrated development approach in tackling the problem of rural

development.

Objectives:

In this Programme there was more emphasis on the package approach. In ten points

included in the programme were :

1. Adequate farm credit through strengthened cooperatives.

2. Adequate supplies of fertilizers pesticides, improved seeds, implements and other

essential production needs through strengthened service cooperatives.

3. Price incentives to participating farmers through assured price agreements for rice,

wheat and millet.

4. Marketing arrangements and services to enable farmers to obtain a full market price

for their marketed surplus.

5. Intensive educational, technical and farm management assistance made available in

every village.

6. Participation of all interested farmers in farm planning for increased production.

7. Village planning for increased production and village improvement programme by

strengthening village organizations and leaderships.

Commodity specific approach

The key characteristic of thisapproach groups all thefunctions for increasedproduction - extension,research, input supply,marketing and prices - underone administration.

The objective of thisapproach is to produce andmarket relatively high valuecommodities effectively andefficiently.

The commodities aregenerally produced forexports such as cotton,cocoa, tea and coffee

Project approach

This approach concentrates

efforts on a particular location, for

a specific time period, often with

outside resources.

Part of its purpose is often to

demonstrate techniques and

methods that could be extended

and sustained after the project

period. Change in the short term

is often a measure of success.

In this approach, the assumption

is that better results can be

achieved in a parrticular location

during specified timeframe, with

large infusion of outside

resources.

Farming system approach (FSA)

The primary objective of FSD is to improve the well-being of individual farming families by increasing theoverall productivity of the farming system in the context ofboth the private and societal goals, given the constraintsand potentials imposed by the factors that determine theexisting farming system.

Thrusts of FSD

Farming Systems Analysis. This involves

studying, together with the farmers the natural

(i.e., technical) and socio-economic (i.e.,

human) environments in which farm

households operate.

Farming Systems Planning, Monitoring,

and Evaluation. These involve testing,

monitoring, and evaluating improvements on-

farm, with the direct involvement of farmers.

Cost sharing approach

Helping farm people learn

those thing s they need to

know for self improvement

and increased productivity. It

is for this purpose that the

local people are willing to pay

part of the cost.

Another purpose is to make

funding of agricultural

extension affordable and

sustainable, both at central

and local levels.

Training and visit approach

Objectives

1. This System will work as unified extension service with single professional

service for Agriculture development.

2. It will emphasis extension activities exclusively in coordination of the

research training and development.

3. It will deliver systematic concentrated efforts through training and visit

programme for the farmers.

4. It will ensure immediate results and success by working with farmers and

scientists.

5. It will schedule imitable contacts and feedback mechanism from the

farmer’s field.

6. The majority of the farmers are trained to use their resources in efficient

ways and improve their management practices of agricultural production.

7. The Agril Technology is transmitted to farmers in consideration with the

constraints risk socio-economic factors and supply of input and credit.

8. This system has continuous improvement in agricultural and allied of the

farmers.

Technology assessment and

refinement through IVLP

It is different from the earlier first line extensionefforts of ICAR, in sense that it lays emphasis onthe research aspect through the participation offarmers to be carried out by the multidisciplinaryteam of scientists,

Moreover, IVLP is a production system orientedproject with agro-ecosystem analysis of theadopted villages as the basis of identify problems,priorities them and final out technologicalintervention point which are further developed intoaction plants to overcome the problems throughassessment and refinement of technologies.

Contract farming approach

It involves agricultural production being carried out onthe basis of an agreement between the buyer andfarm producers

Key benefits of contract farming: The key benefits ofcontract farming for farmers can be summarized as:

* Improved access to local markets.

* Assured markets and prices (lower risks) especiallyfor non-traditional crops.

* Assured and often higher returns.

* Enhanced farmer access to production inputs,mechanization and transport services, and extensionadvice.

Strategic extension

campaigning

The importance of strategic extension campaign can besummarized as :

· Enhances the agricultural extension planning process

· Builds cadres of extension programme planners and trainers

· Helps in improving extension linkage with research

· Is needed most by small, resource-poor farmers

· Helps in improving extension linkage with training

· Reduces extension system's workload and increases itscoverage

· Encourages partnership with, and participation of, community-based organizations

· Helps revitalize extension workers' professionalism

· Shows that extension programmes can be strategicallyplanned, efficiently managed, and systematically monitored andevaluated

· Can contribute to improving and strengthening agricultural

Participatory extension

approach

In this approach the role of the

extension agent is to facilitate an in-

depth situation analysis by the farmers

themselves at the onset of their working

relation.

Once farmers have become aware of

the causes of their problems and have

identified the most pressing ones, the

extension agent provides technical

knowledge and technologies, which

may be useful to address the problems

identified.

Animation rurale

. In order to initiate and perpetuate this

process, AR relied on a large number of

voluntary collaborators, so-called animateurs.

Their task was to initiate discussions within the

community on local needs and objectives, thus

empowering rural people for a dialogue with

the state. At the same time they were to

"interpret" government plans to the villagers

and acquaint them with services available.

Participatory action models

PAM is a management where all relevant agencies, groups and individuals with common intreast and development come together, form a platform to facilitate joint problem solving and action for mutual benefits.

This is working together (convergence) model where stakeholders interests are focused on a specific issues that creates energy and the group plans and guides how this new energy is distributed and diverted (divergence).

DO OUR OWN RESEARCH (DOOR) APPROACH

DOOR approach promotes a major move

from the old way of providing research

information, to a new way of self reliance

with industry generating its own research

information. This empowers farmers to

conduct relevant and self generated

research. Relationship between farmers and

consultants is that of equal partners.

National Demonstration

approach

The NDS was launched by ICAR in 1966 with

the objective that the scientists who generate

the technologies should demonstrate the

production potential of their technologies on

farmer fields and to develop the farmers into

local leaders to serve as change agents.

These NDS centres generated field based

data on production performance.

Operational research project

approach

Objectives :

1. to test, adopt and demonstratenew agricultural technology onfarmers fields in the whole villageor cluster of contiguous villages.

2. to determine profitability of thenew technologies and their placeof spread among farmers.

3. to identify and constraints bothtechnological and socio economicwhich are barrier to rapid change.

4. to demonstrate group action asa method of popularizing themodern technologies at a fasterrate.

The mandates of KVKs are as follows-

Conducting “On-Farm Testing” for identifying technologies in terms of location specific sustainable land use systems.

Organising training to update the extension personnel with emerging advances in agricultural research on regular basis.

Organising short and long term training courses in agriculture and allied vocations for the farmers and rural youths with emphasis on “Learning by doing” for higher production on farms and generating self-employment.

Organising Front Line Demonstrations (FLDs) on various crops to generate production data and feed back information.

KVK approach

Lab to Land Programme (LLP)

The overall objective to improve the economic

condition of the small and marginal farmers

and landless agricultural labourers, particularly

scheduled castes and scheduled tribes by the

transfer of improved technologies developed

by the agricultural universities, research

institutes etc.

National Mission on Agricultural

Extension (Proposed)

1. Technology Solutions and Innovations

2. Extension Policy and Systems

3. Convergence, Programme Delivery, Governance and Innovations

4. Manpower Planning, HRD and Accreditation

5 Leveraging ICT, Mass Media and e-Governance

6. Partnerships for Agri-preneurship and Business Development

7. National and International Linkages and Partnerships

8. Mobilization for Farmers Empowerment

9. Women Empowerment, Household Food and Nutritional Security

10. Leveraging Youth for Agriculture

11. Extension strategies for Difficult Area, Disadvantaged Farmers and Farm Workers

12. Agrarian distress, conflicts and farm studies

Programme Promotion

Priority for Selection of Technologies

Flexibility

Integration and Convergence

Efficient Delivery Mechanism

Public Policy Support for

Ensuring Sustainability