e - EXTENSION AND SMALL HOLDERS
LOOKING BEYOND “INFORMATION DISSEMINATION”
A Policy Brief
V.L.V.Kameswari
INDIA
INTRODUCTION
• Indian agriculture is characterized by low productivity,
subsistence farming, minimal inputs and distress sale at
low paying outlets.
• The sector is facing several challenges due to changes at
the local, national and international levels.
• The Public Extension System in India has undergone
several changes to overcome the challenges facing the
sector.
• One of the strategies adopted is the increasing use of ICTs
to reach farmers.
THE STUDY
• There is a strong evidence to suggest that ICTs are
rarely used by the farmers’ to access agricultural
information.
• The study was carried out to understand the media use
and information seeking behavior of farmers.
• It focused on how availability of market and productivity
influence use of ICTs by the farmers.
METHODOLOGY
• The study was conducted in 8 villages from four
districts in a North Indian state.
• The state of Uttarakhand is divided into two divisions.
• Each division was divided into two zones (lower and
middle hills).
• One district was selected from each zone in the
division.
• Close and open ended Interview schedules was used
for data collection.
STUDY SITE
• The task of providing extension services is mainly
confined to the government agencies.
• National Extension System India came into being in
1952.
• Since then, the system has passed through various
stages to adapt itself to the changing needs of the
society.
• Agricultural extension acquired a well defined shape
and became goal oriented during the second phase of
National Extension System (NSE) starting from 1960.
STUDY SITE
FINDINGS
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Landless
Marginal
Small
Medium
Large
RECOMMENDATION 1: NURTURING COOPERATIVES
• Form and nurture cooperatives.
• Increase access to agricultural services including
extension advice.
• Public Extension System can come to a cost/ revenue
sharing arrangement with these local institutions.
• Ensure intensive and board based extension support.
FINDINGS
90
Mobile phone
80
Television
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
Internet
0
Radio
Newspaper
Fixed
phone
RECOMMENDATION 2: m - EXTENSION
• High ownership, low cost and wide reach.
• ICT based initiatives in agriculture should mainly focus
on use of mobile technologies.
FINDINGS
• Farmers in the study area received agricultural
information from a wide range of sources/ channels.
• Maximum number of farmers (62%) approached private
input dealers (seed and pesticide suppliers)/
middlemen (adti) for information.
• This heavy dependence on adti was due to absence or
inaccessibility of formal institutions to farmers.
FINDINGS
RECOMMENDATION 3: BROADBASING EXTENSION
• Needs of the farmers go way beyond simple need for
information on improved technologies.
• Hence, there is a need to expand the notion of
extension worker from narrow confines of information
provider (subject specificity).
• Reorient to provide first level assistance on all aspects
of agricultural value chain (multi dimensionality).
FINDINGS
Use mobile phones for post sale inquiry rather than
presale negotiations:
• Constrained by structural factors and environmental
conditions.
• Lack of market and cold storage facilities.
• Interrelated nature of informal institutions.
• Trust and social norms play an important role in
business transactions in rural areas.
RECOMMENDATION 4: SYSTEM APPROACH
• Efficiency in agriculture is interlinked with several
factors.
• e- extension initiatives cannot succeed in a contextual
vacuum.
• Agricultural Policy should follow a systems approach
where by all factors are addressed simultaneously.
SUMMING THE RECOMMENDATIONS
• Nurturing cooperatives
• Broadbasing extension
• m-extension
• Systems approach
CONCLUSION
• This study indicates that the possible advantages from
use of ICTs were offset due to absence of other
conducive factors.
• Interventions in other parts of the World and India show
that the entire agricultural supply chain can be made
more efficient by use of ICTs.
• Information, through ICTs or conventional methods, can
at best only be an intervening variable.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
This policy brief is an outcome of the study supported
by Strengthening ICTD Research Capacity in Asia
(SIRCA). We would like to thank SIRCA for funding and
facilitating the study.