{"id":88344,"date":"2026-11-07T18:53:47","date_gmt":"2026-11-07T13:23:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=88344"},"modified":"2026-11-07T18:54:08","modified_gmt":"2026-11-07T13:24:08","slug":"agricultural-extension-system-in-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-11-2026\/agricultural-extension-system-in-india","title":{"rendered":"Revolutionising Agricultural Extension for Viksit Bharat 2047"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Agriculture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>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.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is Agricultural Extension?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Agricultural extension is a process of<strong> providing farmers with knowledge, technical advice, skills and support services<\/strong> to improve agricultural productivity, profitability and sustainability.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It links agricultural research institutions with farmers to promote the uptake of improved farming techniques and technologies.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>In India, it has been a historically<strong> top-down technology dissemination approach <\/strong>where the specialists design technologies and the extension workers convey innovations to the farmers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Need to Reform Agricultural Extension System<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Climate change<\/strong>, soil degradation, water scarcity and disruptions in agricultural input supply chains need locally adaptable solutions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Promising agricultural innovations fail to achieve wide adoption<\/strong> because of inadequate infrastructure, financial constraints and limited access to complementary services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>New technologies involve learning costs<\/strong>, financial investment and uncertainty, discouraging risk-averse farmers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Changing Market Requirements: <\/strong>Farmers need support in market access, quality certification, traceability and export compliance, beyond conventional agronomic advice.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Limitations of the Traditional Agricultural Extension Model<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Follows a top-down approach<\/strong> in which knowledge flows from research institutions to extension workers and then to farmers.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Promotes standardised Packages<\/strong> of Practices that do not suit differences in soil, water availability, climate and farming conditions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Assumes that farmers will automatically <\/strong>adopt technologies if they promise higher yields or lower costs, overlooking practical barriers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>From Agricultural Extension System to Agricultural Opportunity System<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The proposed approach offers to <strong>transform extension workers <\/strong>from <strong>information providers into opportunity brokers,<\/strong> connecting farmers with the services and institutions required to adopt technologies successfully.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It focuses on understanding farmers&#8217; aspirations, local constraints and market opportunities rather than promoting standardised technology packages.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Four Pillars of Agricultural Opportunity System<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Adopt a Systems Perspective:<\/strong> Replace conventional technology packages with farmer-centred, regionally adaptable solutions based on agro-climatic conditions, soil and water availability, household capacity and market demand.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Provide Real-Time, AI-Enabled Advisories:<\/strong> Replace static, seasonal packages of practices with dynamic and real-time decision-support systems.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Use automatic meteorological station data, satellite imaging, and localised pest models to generate timely, location-specific suggestions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Scaling Proven Innovations:<\/strong> Address the pilot trap by preventing premature scaling of unproven technologies and isolation of successful pilots.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Building a Coordinated, Pluralistic Extension Ecosystem:<\/strong> Replace fragmented policymaking with a coherent food-systems approach that considers trade-offs across nutrition, water, energy and farmers&#8217; incomes.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Encourage collaboration among <strong>public extension agencies, agri-tech start-ups, Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs),<\/strong> input suppliers and civil society organisations.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Existing Agricultural Extension Mechanisms in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs): <\/strong>ICAR&#8217;s frontline institutions that conduct on-farm testing, technology demonstrations and farmer training. India has <strong>731 KVKs <\/strong>covering 638 rural districts.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA):<\/strong> Promotes decentralised and district-level agricultural extension by coordinating different departments and institutions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kisan Sarathi: <\/strong>A digital platform that facilitates the delivery of agricultural advisories and information to farmers through ICT-based services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kisan e-Mitra: <\/strong>An AI-based virtual assistant that provides farmers with information about government schemes and services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Redefine the role of extension workers as facilitators<\/strong> who connect farmers with end-to-end agricultural solutions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Use AI and digital technologies <\/strong>to strengthen, rather than replace, human-led extension services.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Establish robust evaluation mechanisms <\/strong>to assess the economic, social and ecological viability of innovations before large-scale implementation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Empower Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs)<\/strong>, FPOs and local extension networks to facilitate participatory technology adoption.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/agriculture\/india-cannot-build-2047-agriculture-with-a-20th-century-extension-model\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>DTE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> 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. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> What is Agricultural Extension? <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Agricultural extension is a process of providing farmers with knowledge, technical advice, skills and support services to improve agricultural productivity, profitability and sustainability. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> It links agricultural research institutions with farmers to promote the uptake of improved farming techniques and technologies. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/07-11-2026\/agricultural-extension-system-in-india \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88344","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88344","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88344"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88344\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88346,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88344\/revisions\/88346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88344"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88344"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88344"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}