This document outlines the role of extension personnel in market-led extension. It discusses educating farmers, traders, and consumers about voluntary and regulatory marketing measures. Extension personnel conduct SWOC analyses of markets, organize farmer interest groups, and build their capabilities in farm enterprise management and marketing. They provide information to farmers on domestic and export demand, product qualities, and marketing alternatives. The goal is to help farmers get adequate financial rewards and strengthen their bargaining position in direct marketing.

2. Market-led Extension
To undertake extension and publicity
activities to educate farmers, traders and
consumers about various voluntary and
regulatory measures brought in to force for
the improvement of marketing system.

3. Areas of Extension education in Marketing
Information on consumer’s preferences,
internal (domestic) demand and also export
demand for farm products, which can fetch
adequate financial rewards to farmers efforts.
The requirements of qualities of different farm
products both for internal and export markets.

4. ROLE OF EXTENSION PERSONNEL
 SWOC analysis of the market.
 Organization of Farmers’ Interest Groups (FIGs)
on commodity basis and building their
capabilities with regard to management of their
farm enterprise.
 Supporting and enhancing the capacities of
locally established groups under various schemes
/programmers.

5.  Direct marketing.
 Advice on product planning.
 Educating the farming community.
 Capacity building of FIGs in terms of
improved production, post harvest operations,
storage and transport and marketing.
 Organizing study tours of FIGS.

6.  Establishing marketing and agro-processing
linkages between farmers’ groups, markets and
private processors.
 Acquiring complete market intelligence regularly
on various aspects of markets.
 Regular usage of internet facility through
computers to get updated on market intelligence.
 Publication of agricultural market information in
news papers, radio and Television besides
internet.

7.  Enhancing the interactive and communication
skills of the farmers to exchange their views with
customers and other market forces (middlemen)
for getting feedback and gain the bargaining
during direct marketing.
 Provide information on relative prices of different
farm products and trends therein.

8.  Knowledge of regulated markets and
advantages of undertaking processing of farm
products.
 Knowledge on methods of storage and
advantages of undertaking processing of farm
products.
 Technological changes pertaining to
performance of marketing functions.

9.  Knowledge on post-harvest management of
different farm products particularly of fruits ,
vegetables, spices and other perishable products
including livestock products.
 Information on various government programmes
pertaining to price , support viz,.,
 Minimum Support Prices (MSP),Procurement
Prices and Market Intervention Schemes (MIS).

10.  Advice on alternate marketing.
 Advice on establishing and operating
markets.
 Securing market for farmers.
 Farmers also have to be educated/trained in
taking appropriate signals from the forward
and future prices.

11.  The information should be area specific ,
crop specific and buyer specific.
 Advice on taking benefits of warehousing
with pledge finance schemes , entering into
forward contracts or to go for future trading.

12.  Production of video films of success stories
of commodity specific farmers.
 Creation of websites of successful FIGs in
the field of agribusiness management with
all the information to help other FIGs
achieve success.

13.  Involvement of agro-processing companies
to provide all types of services to their
contract farmers.
 Promotion of Agri-Clinics and Agri-
Business Centers to provide technical
advice to the farmers.

14. Privatization of Extension efforts
 Introduction of cost recovery programmes by
government extension departments on selected
services.
 Cost-sharing by farmer’s group .
 Contracting services to NGO’s.
 Rise in number of NGO’s & their willingness to
implement rural development programmes.
 Growing number of private consultants/firms.

15.  Partial withdrawal of government extension
agencies from favourable regions or from high
value crops.
 Increasing involvement of input companies &
product marketing companies in transfer of
technologies.
 Arrangements made by producer’s
cooperatives to meet their extension and other
demands.

16. Conclusion
 Every agricultural market should have an
extension cell equipped with internet and
other audio-visual facilities necessary to
educate farmers in various aspects of
marketing functions and services.
 Extension services should be beneficial to
both farmers as well as entreprenuers.

17. References
 Kaleel . F. M. H. et al,2007, Market-Led
Extension Dimensions And Tools, Agrotech
Publishing Academy, Udaipur.
 Acharya,S.S and N.L.Agarwal.2011.Agricultural
Marketing in India.Oxford & IBH Publishing
Co.Pvt.Ltd, New Delhi.