IFPRI organized a two day workshop on “Agricultural Extension Reforms in South Asia – Status, Challenges, and Policy Options” to be organized at Committee Room 3, NASC, Pusa, New Delhi on February 17-18, 2015. IFPRI has been conducting research related to agricultural extension reforms in India and collaborating with researchers in other south Asian countries for the past five years through various projects. For understanding extension reforms in India, a major consultation was held in NAARM in 2009 during which policy makers called for development of evidence for spreading extension reform process in India. Since then several research papers have been produced on various aspects of Indian extension system. While they are presented in various forms including several discussion papers, there is a need to pull all the research result together to present it in form that could be used by the policy makers to further guide them in the reform process. South Asian countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka are going through similar challenges in getting knowledge to farmers. Several experiment shave been conducted to test new approaches to extension by the public, private and NGO sectors. Learning from each country experiences will bring collective understanding and knowledge for the policy makers who are attempting to bring changes in the reform process. The purpose of this workshop is to bring together a groups of researchers, analysts and policy makers to present the issues, constraints and challenges facing agricultural extension reforms that are being implemented in South Asian countries.

1. IFPRI
INTERNATIONAL FOOD POLICY RESEARCH INSTITUTE
Suresh Babu,
Pramod K. Joshi,
Rasheed Sulaiman
Public Sector Reforms In Extension –
Assessment Of ATMA
Scaling Up In India
Agricultural Extension Reforms in South Asia –
Status, Challenges, and Policy Options
February 17-18, 2015
New Delhi, India

2. IFPRI
Organization of Presentation
Broad Changing Scenario
Current Status
Issues and Challenges
Options for Discussions

3. IFPRI
Changing Extension Scenario
 Extension reforms and investment
 High value agriculture
 Productivity gains needed
 Environment and sustainability
 Role of private sectors and NGOs
 Funding scenario
 State / Center relations

4. IFPRI
Issues in Extension and Advisory
Services
Broad Changes
 1980s Traditional GR  T&V
 1990s T&V - lessons
 2000s -- 2010 ATMA 
 New Revised – 2014 
 Future of Extension and Advisory
Services

5. IFPRI
Current Need
 Farmers need an integrated set
of advice and services
 Extension should play a wider
role
 Extension should have links
with several actors
 Extension needs new
theories/framework to reinvent
its new mission- (systems
perspectives)

6. IFPRI
Spectrum of Extension and Advisory Services
FarmersState Dept of Ag
ICAR: SAU, Krishi
Vigyan Kendra
Mass media – TV,
Radio, Newspapers,
Mobile phones
NGOs and
civil society
Private sector e.g.
input dealers,
agriclinics
Other farmers

7. IFPRI
What issues addressed?
 Common issues to all countries – how to increase
the efficiency, effectiveness, sustainability of the
extension systems
 What factors contribute to the improved efficiency
of the extension systems?
 What factors contribute the effectiveness of the
extension systems?
 What are the institutional innovations observed in
the current extension system?
 What opportunities exists to improve the system
efficiency, effectiveness, and sustainability?
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8. IFPRI
What issues addressed so far?
 What factors improve the structure,
conduct and performance of the
extension systems?
 What are the current policies that
make the delivery system inefficient,
ineffective and unsustainable?
 What policy processes are needed to
achieve the expected policy outcomes?
 What are the knowledge gaps?
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9. IFPRI
What is the emerging Analytical
Framework?
Broad political,
macroeconomic
framework for
economic growth
objectives
Nature of the country
context; geography, size
of agricultural economy,
agricultural
transformation goals
Agro ecology cropping
patterns, natural
resource constraints,
Country Specific
extension program
Interventions
Policy, institutional and
market interventions
needed to increase
productivity and
sustainability
Reforms needed for
Increase the Technology
change
Analysis of
extension program
interventions
Analysis of
Changes at the
farm, market and
institutional levels
Analysis of
extension
programs for Farm
level impact
Page 9

10. IFPRI
Where do farmers get their
info?
% farmers for each info source (NSSO, 2005)
Not accessed any source
Other progressive farmers
Input dealer
Radio
TV
Newspaper
Extension worker
KVK
Private agency/NGO

11. IFPRI

12. IFPRI
Public sector MAIN extension arm in
India
State Department of Agriculture
 Present in all states, up to Block, Panchayat
 Staff numbers low; weak research link; top-down, linear
 Perform non-extension duties & implement schemes
ICAR – Krishi Vigyan Kendra
 Present in all districts, multi-disciplinary team
 Linear; staff low; partnerships/linkage rare; local coverage
ICAR –State Agricultural University
 Lab to land, frontline extension in few adopted villages or near
location = farmer reach limited
 Info rarely reflects local needs = centralised agendas
 Weak partnerships and links in ICAR and also with Dept of Ag

13. IFPRI
Innovations in public sector extension - the
10th and 11th 5 year plans
 Support to State Extension Programs
for Extension Reforms (SSEPER) =
Agricultural Technology Management
Agency (ATMA)
 Agriclinics and Agribusiness scheme
 Kisan Call Centres
 Soil Testing Programs

14. IFPRI
Timeline of ATMA
 NATP pilot (1998-2004)
» Market driven, integrate and converge institutions,
farmer group approach
 GoI national implementation (2005-2010)
» Rely on state dept of ag – another scheme to
implement
 GoI revision 2010
» Exclusive ATMA staff
» Contact farmer approach – farmer friend

15. IFPRI
FUNDFLOW
WORKPLAN
SAMETI &
SAU/ICAR institutes
District Training
centers, KVK, & ZRS
Agri-entrepreneurs
DAC, MoA, GoI
State-level Sanctioning Committee (SLSC)
Interdepartmental Working Group (IDWG)
State
nodal
cell
ATMA
(GB &
MC)
Block
ATMA
cell
Farmer
Friend
CIGs, FIGs, FARMERS
State farmers advisory
committee
District farmers
advisory committee
Block technology
team
Block farmers
advisory committee
Farm schools
New revisions to ATMA
June 2010
-Farmer Friend for
every 2 villages
-District/State FAC

16. IFPRI
Hierarchical structure of officials in new
ATMA
 Tamil Nadu no staff hired
 Bihar
-hired SMS for every two
panchayats and increased salary
(not exclusive for ATMA)
- no BTM
- farmer advisor
for each panchayat
 How will FF link to FAC at block?

17. IFPRI
State experiences – Tamil Nadu
 More extension activities + diversified, funding
easier
 Still activities mostly in Dept of Ag, holistic?
 Line dept and KVK low attendance to meets,
attend district > block level meetings
 Meetings not monthly (staff over burdened)
 District level activities >= block level activities
 Farmer group formation low, sustaining difficult
 Work with contact farmers of Dept of Ag, political
 ATMA not autonomous, not independent

18. IFPRI
State experiences - Bihar
 ATMA funding mechanism good/easy and implemented
 Added exclusive district staff state funding 2007
(PD, DPD, office assistant, accountant)
 Dovetail with Dept of Ag
 Activities production focus, tech dissemination
state/district activity > block activity e.g. SRI=state
 FAC = farmers appreciate platform to share probs but
mostly specific problems not addressed
 Block ag officer overburdened – FAC/BTT not meeting
monthly
 ATMA not autonomous, separate institution

19. IFPRI
How does each state adapt ATMA to suit their needs?
Can centre support flexible adaptation of model by states,
where key processes/principles still present?
And how does this influence what ATMA is and does?
What is delivered by ATMA? Largely still production oriented,
can it move towards market driven?
What Impact it can have on farmer livelihoods?
And has now?
Critical Questions?

20. IFPRI
Issues for Extension Policy Options
 A fuller understanding of the historical trends, and enabling environment
and the policy process
 An evaluation of the outcomes and success of the reformed agricultural
extension system
 An assessment of the reform process, from policy to program, and from
program to action that identifies all actors and players
 An assessment of the necessary and sufficient conditions to improve the
relevance, effectiveness, and operational sustainability of the extension
system
 An analysis of the factors affecting extension policy reforms and the needed
refinements
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21. IFPRI
Thank you