Agricultural Extension

About Agricultural Extension

The Extension Division works to carry out Agricultural Extension activities successfully across the country. Through a mix of programmes, schemes, and outreach efforts, it connects farmers with the latest scientific research and knowledge on farming practices, while also guiding and encouraging State Governments to set up, run, and maintain professional Extension Services.

The Division runs the Sub Mission on Agricultural Extension (SMAE), part of the broader Krishonnati Yojana, and also oversees the well-known ATMA Scheme that backs States in their extension work.

It further keeps farmers informed by coordinating with Prasar Bharati and All India Radio to run the DD Kisan channel and Krishi Vani programmes. Twenty-one Kisan Call Centres have been set up nationwide, covering every state and union territory, letting farmers dial a toll-free number (1800-180-1551) for guidance on subjects of interest in agriculture. The Division also brings out four magazines — two in Hindi and two in English — sharing updates on extension work and new developments.

Schemes under the Extension Division

The Sub Mission on Agricultural Extension (SMAE) centres on building awareness and driving wider use of suitable technology across agriculture and allied sectors, through four main components:

1. Support to State Extension Programmes for Extension Reforms 1. Mass Media Support to Agricultural Extension 1. Establishment of Agri-Clinic and Agri-Business Centres by Agriculture Graduates (ACABC) 1. Extension Support to Central Institutions

These four components previously ran as independent schemes under the Extension Division before being folded into the SMAE umbrella.

Support to State Extension Programmes for Extension Reforms: This component backs state governments in their extension efforts, aiming to make the extension system farmer-driven through new institutional set-ups — namely, an Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) at district level — that operationalise the reforms. Funds go to State Governments per scheme guidelines, contingent on the states releasing their matching share.

Mass Media Support to Agricultural Extension:

1. Doordarshan and All India Radio 1. Print Media 1. Kisan Mela 1. Kisan Call Centre 1. Common Services Centre

Establishment of Agri-Clinic and Agri-Business Centres by Agriculture Graduates (ACABC): This programme draws on the large pool of expertise among agriculture graduates, offering them a 45-day specialised training course through selected institutes across the country.

Extension Support to Central Institutions: This component focuses on building the capacity of extension functionaries alongside skill development for rural youth, farmers, and farm women. Key institutions carrying this out include the Directorate of Extension (a subordinate office of the Extension Division), MANAGE, Hyderabad (an autonomous body linked to the Division), four regional Extension Education Institutes (EEIs), and State Agricultural Management & Extension Training Institutes (SAMETIs) at state level.

Main programmes under this component:

A. Capacity Building Programmes:

• Extension Education Institutes (EEIs): The Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare runs four EEIs — at Nilokheri (Haryana), Hyderabad (Telangana), Anand (Gujarat), and Jorhat (Assam) — that train mid-level field extension functionaries across agriculture and allied departments in their respective regions. Their activities span on-campus and off-campus training, workshops, and conferences covering communication technology, extension methodology, training management, the Agriculture Knowledge Information System (AKIS), and IT.
• Model Training Courses (MTCs): Delivered through the same four EEIs described above, serving the same training needs for mid-level extension functionaries in the states/UTs they cover.

B. Kisan Call Centre (KCC):

• The initiative lets farmers get answers to their queries over the phone in their own dialect. It currently runs from 21 locations spanning every state and UT, reachable via a common eleven-digit toll-free number, 1800-180-1551, from any mobile or landline, including private networks. Farmers can call in for answers between 6:00 am and 10:00 pm, all seven days a week.
• Agents at the Kisan Call Centres, called Farm Tele Advisors (FTAs), hold degrees or higher in agriculture or allied fields and communicate well in local languages. Where an FTA can’t answer a query, it’s escalated via call conferencing to subject specialists from State Agricultural Departments, ICAR, and State Agricultural Universities.
• The restructured KCC brings several distinctive features: full call recording, call barging, voicemail, customised IVR, expert call conferencing, state-specific advisories played during hold time, SMS summaries of FTA answers sent to callers, and an option for farmers to register for regular SMS updates from experts on crops they select.

Programmes for Skill Development:

1. Skill Training of Rural Youth (STRY): This component trains rural youth, artisans (blacksmiths, carpenters, and others who design or make farm implements), and farm women nationwide, focusing on specific vocational skills within agriculture and allied sectors. Both public and private/non-governmental bodies — including vocational training organisations and youth groups like Nehru Yuva Kendra — take part in delivering it. 1. Diploma in Agricultural Extension Services for Input Dealers (DAESI): Agri-input dealers are often farmers’ primary source of information alongside supplying inputs and credit, yet most lack formal agricultural training. To build their technical know-how and help them serve farmers better as para-extension professionals, a self-financed one-year DAESI programme was launched in 2003, charging input dealers a course fee of ₹20,000. The National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) is the nodal agency running it.