Revolutionising Agricultural Extension for Viksit Bharat 2047

Syllabus: GS3/ Agriculture

Context

• To realise Viksit Bharat 2047, agriculture needs to develop at about 4 per cent yearly in real terms, which demands a transformation from the existing agricultural extension system to a farmer-centric approach.

What is Agricultural Extension?

• Agricultural extension is a process of providing farmers with knowledge, technical advice, skills and support services to improve agricultural productivity, profitability and sustainability.
• It links agricultural research institutions with farmers to promote the uptake of improved farming techniques and technologies.
• In India, it has been a historically top-down technology dissemination approach where the specialists design technologies and the extension workers convey innovations to the farmers.

Need to Reform Agricultural Extension System

• Climate change, soil degradation, water scarcity and disruptions in agricultural input supply chains need locally adaptable solutions.
• Promising agricultural innovations fail to achieve wide adoption because of inadequate infrastructure, financial constraints and limited access to complementary services.
• New technologies involve learning costs, financial investment and uncertainty, discouraging risk-averse farmers.
• Changing Market Requirements: Farmers need support in market access, quality certification, traceability and export compliance, beyond conventional agronomic advice.

Limitations of the Traditional Agricultural Extension Model

• Follows a top-down approach in which knowledge flows from research institutions to extension workers and then to farmers.
• Promotes standardised Packages of Practices that do not suit differences in soil, water availability, climate and farming conditions.
• Assumes that farmers will automatically adopt technologies if they promise higher yields or lower costs, overlooking practical barriers.

From Agricultural Extension System to Agricultural Opportunity System

• The proposed approach offers to transform extension workers from information providers into opportunity brokers, connecting farmers with the services and institutions required to adopt technologies successfully.
• It focuses on understanding farmers’ aspirations, local constraints and market opportunities rather than promoting standardised technology packages.

Four Pillars of Agricultural Opportunity System

• Adopt a Systems Perspective: Replace conventional technology packages with farmer-centred, regionally adaptable solutions based on agro-climatic conditions, soil and water availability, household capacity and market demand.
• Provide Real-Time, AI-Enabled Advisories: Replace static, seasonal packages of practices with dynamic and real-time decision-support systems.
  • Use automatic meteorological station data, satellite imaging, and localised pest models to generate timely, location-specific suggestions.
• Scaling Proven Innovations: Address the pilot trap by preventing premature scaling of unproven technologies and isolation of successful pilots.
• Building a Coordinated, Pluralistic Extension Ecosystem: Replace fragmented policymaking with a coherent food-systems approach that considers trade-offs across nutrition, water, energy and farmers’ incomes.
  • Encourage collaboration among public extension agencies, agri-tech start-ups, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs), input suppliers and civil society organisations.

Existing Agricultural Extension Mechanisms in India

• Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs): ICAR’s frontline institutions that conduct on-farm testing, technology demonstrations and farmer training. India has 731 KVKs covering 638 rural districts.
• Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA): Promotes decentralised and district-level agricultural extension by coordinating different departments and institutions.
• Kisan Sarathi: A digital platform that facilitates the delivery of agricultural advisories and information to farmers through ICT-based services.
• Kisan e-Mitra: An AI-based virtual assistant that provides farmers with information about government schemes and services.

Way Ahead

• Redefine the role of extension workers as facilitators who connect farmers with end-to-end agricultural solutions.
• Use AI and digital technologies to strengthen, rather than replace, human-led extension services.
• Establish robust evaluation mechanisms to assess the economic, social and ecological viability of innovations before large-scale implementation.
• Empower Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs), FPOs and local extension networks to facilitate participatory technology adoption.

Source: DTE