Concept Note
National Dialogue
on
"Innovative Extension Systems for Farmers’ Empowerment"
Agriculture must liberate India from twin scourges of hunger and poverty. It must also
address effectively the concern of malnutrition of children and women. To ensure these, an
accelerated science and innovation-led agricultural growth must be inclusive and should address
the needs and aspirations of resource-poor smallholder farmers. Under the growing challenges of
resource degradation, escalating input crisis and their costs with overarching effects of global
climate change, the major gains in food grain production would depend hence forth on a
paradigm shift from integrated germplasm improvement to that of integrated natural resource
management. The future AR4D efforts by NARS must, therefore, be reoriented towards farming
system’s research that too by involving farmers’ participatory approach. Also, we need to
employ more innovative ways for effective dissemination of knowledge and lay greater emphasis
on outscaling innovations for needed impact on livelihood of small holder farmers. Henceforth,
‘Farmer First’ be our major aim to bridge the income divide between farmers and non-farmers
and benefit equally both the producers and consumers. Further, to ensure food, nutritional and
environment security, we shall need innovative extension systems by which proper knowledge
can be imparted to empower our smallholder farmers.
Agricultural Extension in India is currently on ‘cross roads’. Agricultural Extension in
India is in transitional phase and is now witnessing renewed interest and policy attention. In the
Pre-Green Revolution era, public extension system had played a vital role, which mainly
remained confirmed to irrigated areas. However, due to continued economic liberalization and
globalization in the post-Green Revolution era, extension systems has witnessed both
complacency and under diversity in view of diverse demand of new innovation, new products,
new information and new services.
Agricultural Extension is also under going changes. It needs to be reoriented to
effectively address the new challenges faced by Indian Agriculture. The mis-management of
water, soils, biodiversity, crop diversification and agrochemicals have caused rise in greenhouse
gas emissions. Indiscriminate use of fertilizers and mismanagement of irrigation water have led
to reduction in efficiency, declining yield, climate change and depletion of soil carbon.
Apparently, therefore, intensified problem of productivity, arising from degradation/depletion of
natural resources and climate change cannot be overcome by routine systems of transfer of
technology. Current approach of extension requires a paradigm shift and an ‘Out of Box’
thinking to devise innovative extension systems for effective transfer of technology.
The Success of Green Revolution was mainly due to holy alliance between researchersextension specialists and farmers. The technology dissemination approach adopted was top-down
and centered around individual farmers. Faster adoption of technology was also on account of
miracle seeds of wheat and rice, promoted largely by the public extension system which over the
years has become relatively weak. On the contrary, new innovations around natural resource
management require bottom-up approach, involving farmer’s participation, while ensuring
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confidence building among farming communities to take risk and make agriculture more
scientific and resilient.
In the process, sharing of knowledge on good agricultural practices, without
dissemination loss, and incentives for critical inputs becomes highly crucial to achieve future
successes. Also partnership among key stakeholders become essential to promote growth in
agriculture. In the process, care is also needed to overcome complacency that has crept in the
public extension/advisory services.
Also, a paradigm shift is needed from present national agricultural research institute
(NARI) system to that of the national agricultural research and extension system (NARES). This
would require active involvement of stakeholders such as farmers, NGOs, private sector,
scientists and policy makers. Another paradigm shift has to be in the extension approach towards
translational research in order to ensure outscaling of innovations for greater impact on both
higher productivity and income.
In this context, extension approach has now to be around farming communities rather
than individual farmers. Also, Natural Resource Management (NRM) related innovations would
require more lead time to assess the impact on farmers fields, unlike the impact of high yielding
varieties on crop productivity. This obviously throws a new institutional challenge for needed
reforms in existing extension system, which is mostly dependent on public organizations. Role of
private sector, especially through involvement of youth and gender in agriculture, becomes most
relevant in the present situation. Hence, empowering youth (both men and women) through
vocational training and building a cadre of ‘Technology Agents’ to provide technical
backstopping as well as custom hire services to the smallholder farmers will go a long way in
linking research with extension for accelerating agricultural growth. In other words, we need to
link now ‘land with lab’, the ‘village with institute’ and ‘scientists with society’ to ensure faster
adoption of resource saving technologies that would benefit both producers and consumers. In
the process, the Agriculture Technology Agents will become “job creators and not job seekers”
and provide on farmers door steps the best technologies as well as quality inputs. Another
strategy could be to create ‘Agri-clinics’, where technology agents could join hands to ensure
single window system of advisory services so that farmers need not run from pillar to post. In
fact, a good farmer is more knowledge hungry and not dependent only on government subsidy.
Pluralistic Extension and Stakeholders
In the changing socio-economic environment, there has been steady improvement in the
information and communication technology, rural infrastructure and literacy standards in the
rural communities. Public sector institutions such as Central and state Government line
departments of Agriculture, Horticulture, livestock including fisheries, central and state
agricultural universities, network of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and Agricultural
Technology Management Agencies (ATMAs) are empowering farmers, but due to the nature and
scope of agricultural extension, these are undergoing fundamental changes and hence, a mix of
public-private sector participation is required for the efficient delivery of agro-services.
Emergence of private sector institutions such as corporate organisations, community based
organizations, farmer associations, farmer cooperatives, self-help groups, watershed and water
user associations, producer companies, NGOs, farmer producers, input providers (seeds,
nutrients, pesticides) service providers (implements etc.), para professional (Kisan Mitras etc)
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input producers, private corporate sector, fertilizer companies, marketing firms, processing
enterprises etc., is a welcome development.
There is a need for involving all stakeholders for transforming subsistence agriculture to
agri-business and market driven. These extension systems aim at effective delivery and
dissemination to the target clientele, promotion of famers’ innovations for income sustainability,
challenges related to agro-forestry, natural resource management, women empowerment, gender
mainstreaming, promotion of self-help groups, enhancing efficiency in rainfed agriculture and
organic farming.
It is necessary to empower smallholder farmers by recognizing and promoting their local
knowledge and develop farm innovations and their upscaling and out-scaling after validating
them, as these innovations are highly cost effective and adopted by the farmers. Smallholders
depend primarily on other progressive farmers, input dealers, and radio programs on information
broadcasting. Present extension system continues to have the major focus on commodity
production in well endowed regions and the extension process is supply driven approach in
contrast with demand driven approach. The demand of farmer is changing owing to a variety of
technologies and services to remain competitive and profitable, diversify production, produce for
niche markets and move to high value products with enhanced production. There is an urgent
need to make the demand driven approach as the basis for research and extension. Research and
extension system need to adopt an integrated farming system approach, and also there is a need
for convergence among different government sponsored programmes for improvement of land,
water productivity , effective technology adoption. Innovative extension strategies and models
need to be analysed and synthesised. Pluralism in delivery and advisory services with concerns
for collaboration, convergence and synergy has to be improved.
Objectives
In view of above, it has been decided to organize a three days national seminar for
sharing experiences among researchers, extensionists and farmers to develop a Roadmap for
innovative agricultural extension systems for effective technology transfer.
Broad themes
1. Empowerment of small holder farmers
2. Outscaling of farmer-led innovations
3. Farming system approach and diversification for profit maximisation and risk
minimisation
4. Farmer based organisations for effective production and marketing.
5. ICT mediated and other communication strategies and models for effective
extension systems.
6. Entrepreneurship development for youth empowerment
7. Public-private partnership for promoting innovative agriculture extension system
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Organizers:
1. Trust for Advancement of Agricultural Sciences
2. Indian Council of Agricultural Research
3. Department of Agriculture & Cooperation
Co-sponsors:
1. Private Organisations: ITC, RML, IKSL, mKRISHI, Digital Green, Farmers,
2. Voluntary Organisation: SEWA, BAIF, PRADAN
3. Agri-Input Suppliers: Jain Irrigation, Danuka Seeds, MAHYCO
4. Funding Agencies: DBT, DST, NABARD, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
5. Media Partners: DD Kisan Channel, ETV, Rajya Sabha Channel, The Hindu, Business
Standard
6. Bharat Krishak Samaj
7. Farmer Producer Companies: Maha Grapes, Maha Anar
Suggested Stakeholders Interactions
1. Participatory Video Production: Digital Green
2. Mobile Agro Advisory Services: mKisan, IKSL, RML, Direct2Farm
3. Frontline Extension: Outstanding KVKs
4. Mainline Extension: Outstanding ATMAs
5. Farm correspondents: The Hindu
6. Community Radio: Outstanding CRS run by NGO, GBPUAT
7. Farm Professors, Farm innovators
8. Awardee farmers: IARI, ICAR, SAUs
9. Rural women employment: SEWA
10. Livelihood enhancement: NABARD
11. Corporate Social Responsibility: ASSOCHAM
12. Financial Inclusion of marginal farmers and agricultural labourers: Syndicate Bank, SBI,
PNB
13. Self Help Group: NABARD
14. Skill Development of farm youth: Agriculture Sector Skill Council of India (ASCI)
15. Digital India: Department of Electronics & Information Technology (DeitY)
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