Access Agriculture provides freely downloadable farming videos online to address the lack of agricultural extension services reaching smallholder farmers in India. A 2021 survey found that Access Agriculture's videos have reached over 30 million farmers in 106 countries, filling an important gap. The short, practical videos demonstrate agroecological practices, address local language and crop needs, and are effective tools to share knowledge without advertisements. As digital access grows in rural areas, online videos can help transform Indian agriculture by teaching organic and natural farming approaches at scale.

1. Head, Div. of Extension Education
mchanderivri@gmail.com
Why Access Agriculture is needed in India?
Mahesh Chander
ICAR-Indian Veterinary Research Institute
Izatnagar-243122(UP)
www.ivri.nic.in

2. 2
April 6, 2022
Extension services must be Efficient & Effective
But…
The ratio of extension workers to farmers in India is low at 1 : 1162
Over 59% of the farm households in India received no assistance from either
government or private agricultural extension services as per NSSO Survey 2013
Of the 41% households who received extension assistance, only 11% was served by
government extension agents, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and agricultural universities
 Most farmers depended on other farmers (20%), radio, TV, newspaper (20%) and
private commercial agents (7%)
The public extension system reaches only 5% of smallholder farmers, compared to
12% of large farmers

3. 3
April 6, 2022
Farmers need timely information…
Right information at right time through appropriate channels is crucial for farmers to
take informed decisions on farming practices including marketing of produce
The national objective of doubling farmers’ income cannot be achieved without the
successful delivery of agricultural extension due to limited staff & insufficient budget
Farmers can help themselves to a great extent, if they can learn from good quality
videos on farming practices
Not many agencies within India are currently engaged in producing quality videos on
farming practices, also no one is providing such videos freely downloadable

4. 4
April 6, 2022
Access Agriculture: the first organisation offering freely downloadable farmer
learning videos globally, over the Internet, starting in 2012.
YouTube offers free viewing, but its videos cannot be downloaded

5. 5
April 6, 2022
Why Access Agriculture videos are so GOOD?
Access Agriculture’s central theme is agroecology, especially on family farms
Access Agriculture videos are short, practical, filmed to a high quality, with
relevant information and free of advertisements, while demonstrating how to do
something- making them very effective
Various Access Agriculture videos show how women groups can get organised to
provide natural inputs to the farming community
Access Agriculture videos address country specific needs in terms of language
and technical content: Videos in Telugu to promote ZBNF in Andhra Pradesh,
conservation agriculture in Bangla for West Bengal,…

6. 6
April 6, 2022
Insights from the Access Agriculture survey
 In 2021, 2,976 people from 106 countries took an online survey for Access Agriculture..
Of the respondents 16% were extensionists, 13% farmers and 13% educators
 A medium-sized organization like Access Agriculture (much smaller than a national
extension agency) can reach over 30 million farmers in at least 106 countries
 Most viewers watched on TV or listened on the radio
 The 30 million viewers include one million who were reached in small groups, facilitated
by extensionists, civil society organisations or neighbouring farmers who showed videos
on their TV sets or on screens set up in the evening.
 People use the videos to learn ideas to share with others (62%), to screen in rural
communities (59%), to share with organisations (40%), to share on social media (34%)
and to distribute on memory cards for mobile phones (16%)

7. 7
April 6, 2022
 The videos were accessed by a relatively young audience, implying that digital media may be a
way to engage the next generation of farmers, who are often entering niche markets that may
include organic or agroecological produce
 Many educators who responded to this survey are showing agricultural videos in classrooms:
a further avenue for reaching young farmers and future extensionists.
 Mobile phones are a key vehicle for sharing videos, as evidenced by the growing number of
people who are downloading the 3gp (phone-friendly) versions of Access Agriculture’s videos
 The online videos are so highly appreciated that people who find them on the Internet share
them by screening them or sending links. Some 5,000 organisations received links from the
survey respondents, with no direct contact from Access Agriculture
 Ninety-nine percent of respondents thought the videos had made a positive impact on
farmers’ lives, especially by improving yields, by better pest management, improved soil
management, better quality produce, improving income, better food and nutrition, and by
fostering a deeper appreciation of local knowledge
Insights from the Access Agriculture survey

8. 8
April 6, 2022
The road ahead…
 As extension services struggle to reach the world’s farmers with appropriate information on agroecology, new
ICTs are rapidly becoming more available across the Global South
 Most farmers now have a cell phone and can access information videos. Currently, Access Agriculture is the only
organisation specialising in providing agroecology videos online, for free downloading
 Producing environmentally-sound healthy food profitably, demands that millions of farmers speaking many
languages are reached. Online videos can merge quality and quantity, reaching many farmers with information
they can test on their own farms
 The Indian government is supporting the transition to natural & organic farming in a big way, aiming to grow the
global market for ecological/organic products - Access Agriculture videos can effectively help in this
 Farmers & extension agents are experienced & trained, but oriented in conventional agriculture. Mindsets need
to be changed through knowledge and skills on agroecological & organic farming approaches – it is here that
Access Agriculture videos can prove their value.
 Strengthened collaboration with extension professionals & researchers can help to enrich the Access Agriculture
video platform, and contribute to a great digital extension experience to transform Indian Agriculture.

9. 9
April 6, 2022
Access Agriculture adapting to Indian audiences…
I am very happy to read the details of the work being done by Access Agriculture. I congratulate you
and your colleagues on this most valuable work, and wish you continued success-
Prof M S Swaminathan

10. 10
April 6, 2022
Access Agriculture: Accelerating digital rural transformation