Agricultural Extension

The changing world situation has brought to focus several issues relevant to agricultural extension. With the arrival of the monsoons getting delayed every year, it has become inevitable for all farmers to resort to new techniques to avoid, or at least reduce considerably, the damage caused due to low, late and sometimes no rains at all. Agriculture also faces the challenge of keeping pace with rapidly increasing population with few reserves of potentially cultivable land.

This change in methods, from old and obsolete techniques to new technologies, has given an impetus to the growth of the concept of agricultural extension in India. Various programmes have been adopted by the Agricultural Extension Management (or AEM) depending on the kind of conditions prevailing in every the various states of India.

The arrangements for agricultural extension in India have grown, over the last five decades, in terms of activities, organisational types and available manpower. Public sector extension, represented mainly by the State Department of Agriculture (DoA), continues to be the most important source of information for the majority of farmers. Activities of other extension agencies, be it Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), input agencies, mass media, research institutions or farmers associations, though increasing, are still restricted to certain regions, crops and enterprises. The performance of public sector extension is under scrutiny for quite some time and questions are being raised on its capability to deliver goods in the rapidly changing environment.

The shifting emphasis of Indian agriculture towards diversification, commercialisation, sustainability and efficiency has made it necessary for the state extension organisations to critically examine their extension approaches. DoA in several states made changes in some of their approaches towards the late 1980's as the Training and Visit System of Extension was coming to an end. But the basic issues regarding the type of support required by the farmers and the changes in extension organisation needed to provide these were not addressed.