Agriculture Extension System

Posted 27 Jul 2024

5 min read

Why in the news?

Prime Minister awarded Krishi Sakhi certificates to more than 30,000 women Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in Varanasi.

Krishi Sakhis are practicing farmers and trained para extension professional in agriculture at grassroot level.
- Agriculture Extension system support farmers and rural producers in applying scientific research and new knowledge to agricultural practices through education, training and information.
Role: To be farmers’ friend at their doorstep with all necessary information, skills and abilities to guide farmers on various aspects of natural farming, providing capacity building and skilling in emerging areas of natural farming and soil health management.

Ministry: Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare (MoA&FW) and Ministry of Rural Development jointly launched the Krishi Sakhi Convergence Programme (KSCP).
Aim: To transform rural India through the empowerment of rural Women as Krishi Sakhi, by imparting training and certification of Krishi Sakhis as Para-extension Workers.
- It aims to create 70,000 Krishi Sakhis on natural farming and soil health management in a phased manner.
Part of Lakhpati Didi program: Under Lakhpati Didi program, the aim is to create 3 crore Lakhpati Didis, one dimension of which is Krishi Sakhi.
Implementation: It has been rolled out in 12 States in Phase – 1: Gujarat, Tanil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Odisha, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Meghalaya.
- Presently, over 34,000 Krishi Sakhis out of 70,000 have been certified as Para-extension Workers.

Currently, agriculture R&E system in India is dominated by the public sector and is led by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR).

ICT led interactive technology information dissemination- VISTAAR (Videos on farm technologies to be developed, technical vetting to videos, monitoring of state nodal agencies & stakeholders).
Application and promotion of drone technology in agriculture across the country.
Involvement in big data management (ICAR-CSISA Collaborative project) for obtaining feedback regarding technology adoption and development of strategies for upscaling and out-scaling

National Mission on Agriculture Extension and Technology (NMAET): Introduced to enable delivery of technology and improve current agronomic practices of farmers under four sub missions, namely:
- Sub Mission on Agricultural Extension (I),
- Sub Mission on Seed and Planting Material (SMSP),
- Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM) and
- Sub Mission on Plant Protection and Plant Quarantine (SMPP).
Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs): KVKs are field research units of the ICAR and are meant to test new seed varieties, agronomic practices, machinery etc. in field conditions across different agro-climatic zones before these are cleared for adoption by farmers.
- Additionally, they conduct farmer outreach programmes through on-farm demonstration plots, training etc.
Other players in public sector: State Agricultural Universities (SAU) and ICT-led extension interventions by MoA&FW.
- ICT-led schemes include m-Kisan, Kisan Call Centre etc.
Extension services by Private sector: Mostly by input dealers, such as those marketing seeds, fertilizers and farm machinery.
- E.g., Companies such as IFFCO and KRIBHCO etc. undertake extension activities by conducting farmer meetings, organizing crop seminars, arranging for soil testing facilities etc.

Lack of Investment: India spends about 0.7% of its agri-GDP on agri-Research and Education (R&E) and Extension and Training together, of which only 0.16% is allocated to Extension and Training.
Regional Variations: There are considerable variations in presence of extension system and investments across various states.
- Eastern states which are also a few of the poorest states with high dependency on agriculture and low agriculture productivity are also the states with lowest spending on Agriculture R&E.
Skewed Allocation: India’s allocation of agriculture extension and training is highly skewed towards crop husbandry (92%) while livestock sector contributes significantly to agri. Output.
Lacks outcome orientation: The public extension delivery system has functioned more as targeted activity based rather than targeted outcomes-based mechanism.

Market-led system: There is an urgent need to re-prioritise the existing extension system to transcend from the traditional food security perspective to a more market led-extension system.
Linking research and extension: Strengthen links between research and extension by increasing cross sharing of experiences between the public, private and civil society sectors.
Diversification: Diversify agriculture R&E portfolio away from crops and more towards animal husbandry and dairy (high value agriculture).
Innovation networks: Designing and implementing innovation networks through digital platforms to permit free two-way flow of ideas and technologies. E.g., Ranking of KVKs through KVK Portal- DARPAN
- Collaboration with private partners under Public-Private-Peasant-Policy Partnership (P-P-P-P-P) mode.
Agri-Rural Markets: Periodical rural markets can be developed into retail cum logistics hub named Primary Agri-Rural Markets (PRAMs) which include facilities for aggregating produce, grading, price discovery and increasing the bargaining power of farmers.