Extension is solely the act of private individuals or organizations where the decision of ...... Private sector will have a greater success in the areas of hitech.
Private Extension in India: Myths, Realities, Apprehensions and Approaches
Editor
P. CHANDRA SHEKARA
National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030, A.P., India.
2001
Published by
: A.K.Goel, I.A.S., Director General National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management Rajendranagar, Hyderabad – 500 030.
Edited by
: Dr. P. Chandra Shekara Deputy Director (Agricultural Extension) National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management Rajendranagar, Hyderabad – 500 030.
Year of Publication
: 2001
No. of Copies
: 1000
Price
: Rs.250-00
Printers
: Heritage Print Services Pvt. Ltd. Nallakunta, Hyderabad – 500 044. Ph.: +91(40) 7602 453, 760 8604
Presentation of material in this publication by different authors do not imply the expression of any opinion whatever on the part of MANAGE
Foreword Indian Agriculture has the responsibility to double the present food production by 2010 to meet the needs of growing population. Nutritional security is the next most important area, which needs the attention of extension worker simultaneously. Besides, we have to prepare the farmers to face the challenges of implications of WTO on Indian Agriculture. The extension focus would be on quality, cost of production, value addition, market led extension and cyber application in Agriculture. These challenges require the change in the role of present extension. The process of changing roles and additional responsibility, limitations of resources in public extension has created the gap. This space created by public extension is getting filled up by private extension. This desirable development needs governmental encouragement and regulation. In National Agriculture policy, Government is committed to involve private sector in Agriculture development. Information on private extension is necessary to be placed before all stakeholders for transparency at this Juncture. Realizing the availability of limited documented experiences and literature on private extension, and also to meet future information need, MANAGE took initiation to organize the first National Seminar on private extension during July 2000. Recommendations and abstracts were published, circulated and put on the net for wider use. I hope this book will provide in depth and diversified views on private extension. I am sure that it will be useful for policy makers, academicians, practitioners, students and farmers and all other stakeholders in private extension.
Place: Hyderabad Date: 8.02.2001
(A.K. GOEL) Director General, MANAGE
Preface Today’s farmer is different from yesterday. He is not depending on Agriculture for food alone, but to produce more marketable surplus to make more profit. He is depending on Agriculture to meet his diversified growing needs born out of modernization, besides food. His expectations on extension are changing. The country is self reliant in food production. But, more concerned about nutritional security. Most concerned about implications of WTO on Agriculture and Indian farmers. Expectation of this country, on the Agriculture extension is also changing. WTO will bring whole lot of changes in Indian Agriculture. There need to be more extension focus on low cost technologies, high production technology, value addition through processing quality, price competitiveness, marketing and use of IT in Agriculture. The pressure of changing role and additional responsibility on public extension will add to its whole lot of existing problems like wide ratio between extension worker and farmer, inadequate infrastructure and finance. Hence, the existing gap is expected to enlarge. In the interest of farmer, this gap has to be filled by private extension and already filled to some extent. As stated in national policy on Agriculture, government is committed to encourage the participation of private sector in Agricultural development. This point of time, it is needed to find answer to some of questions like what is private extension?, Who are the players?, What are their approaches?, What are the advantages and disadvantages?, How to regulate them? and What kind of encouragement is needed?. The experiences documented and literature available in this regard is very limited. Realizing the future information need, MANAGE had already conducted National Seminar on private extension, recommendations are published, circulated, put on the net for wider use. In continuation, this book provides in depth analysis of the concept, and diversified
views on private extension and privatization. Some of the important areas covered are concept, advantages, disadvantages, apprehensions, approaches, policy implications, models, attitudes and preferences of stakeholders through 16 articles from the academicians and practitioners across the country. I hope this humble piece of work will be of immense use to policy makers, academicians, practitioners and farmers.
Date: 9.02.2001 MANAGE, Hyderabad
(P.CHANDRA SHEKARA)
Contents 1.
Private extension in India: Myths, Realities, Apprehensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 and Approaches Chandra Shekara, P.
2.
Micro level Opportunities and Challenges for Privatization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 of Agricultural Extension Chandra Gowda, M.J.
3.
Private Extension in India: Experiences, Issues and Approaches . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Chandrakandan, K. and Karthikayan
4.
Private Extension in India and a SWOT analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Ravishankar, K
5.
Private Extension System – Options and Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Prasad, R.M
6.
Privatization of Extension – An answer to rural poverty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Satpathy, C and Mangaraj, A.K
7.
Privatizing Fisheries Extension – policy implications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 De, H.K. and Sahu, B.B.
8.
Privatization of Agricultural Extension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Saravanan, R.
9.
Models for Private and Public Extension Co-operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Perumal, G.
10.
Attitude and preferences of Agricultural Scientists towards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81 privatization of Agricultural Extension Service Shivalinge Gowda, N.S. and Saravanan, R.
11.
Privatization of Extension Service: Attitudes and . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 preferences of Extension Personnel Hanchinal, S.N., Sundaraswamy, B and Ansari, M.R.
12.
Privatization of Agricultural Extension System in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91 India: Preferences and Constraints Venkata Kumar, R., Anandaraja, M., Sripal, K.B. and Sriram, N.
13.
Attitudes and Preferences of farmers towards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Privatization of Extension Service Hanchinal, S.N., Sundaraswamy, B and Ansari, M.R.
14.
Human Resource Development among professionals as an . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 approach and a challenge for Privatization of Extension in India Narayana swamy, B.K
15.
Private Extension to transfer marketing technologies for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129 globalization of Indian Agriculture Praveen, M., Narayana Swamy, B.K and Ravi, P.C
16.
Privatization of Extension Services – International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 Experiences and its relevance in Indian Context Krishna Prasad, T. and Md. Suleman Khan
Private Extension in India: Myths, Realities, Apprehensions and Approaches P. Chandra Shekara
Second half of 20th century witnessed the change of traditional and subsistence Indian agriculture into a commercial activity. During first half in India, attempts were made by few philanthropic individuals and non-governmental organizations, here and there, to increase the production, productivity and to diversify the agriculture. But, only after independence, the organized Agricultural extension came into operation. Green revolution of sixties paved the way for entry of Agri-business companies selling seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and machineries. Today, agriculture consultants and large number of consultancy firms are catering to the needs of hi-tech agriculture, large holdings and commercial and irrigated crops. Commodity based farmers organizations are operating, focusing not only on production but also processing and marketing. NGO’s are serving the farmers in risk prone areas. Mass media role in Agricultural Extension is becoming more meaningful and powerful. Revolution in information technology made the common man’s access to the information easy and cost effective. Today’s agriculture is commercializing and hence the number of players in agriculture is increasing. Commercial agriculture needs more investment, high technology and various inputs like seeds, fertilizers etc. Hence, the independent farmer of yesterday is more depending on many players than ever before. The farmer depends on his neighbourer, progressive farmer, relative, extension worker, input dealers and mass media for information, input dealers for seeds, fertilizers, pesticides, weedicides, machinery and labourers for regular work, middle men for selling, * Deputy Director (Agricultural Extension), National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 30. Private Extension in India
1
banks for credit, government for supportive policy and nature for good production. Today, considerable numbers of private extension service providers are there in the field who can influence the ultimate profit of the farmer. The genesis of Private Extension may be because of two reasons. 1.
Inability of the Public Extension to reach all the farmers, all the time, regarding all problems created the space, which is gradually filled by Private Extension.
2.
The services which are not fully covered by Public Extension are covered by Private Extension – Ex: Input supply, market support, processing etc.
Even while transferring the technology / information, public extension suffers from following limitations. 1. The extension worker: farmer ratio is very wide in India i.e. 1: 1000. The ratio further widens due to a.
At least, 25 percent of extension workers are administrations / supervisors who are not directly in touch with farmers.
b.
With remaining extension workers, at least 50 percent of the time goes for administrative work, official correspondence, reports and travel to reach villages.
c.
Excluding the leave period, holidays, an extension worker attends office for about 250 days in a year.
2. Educational background and professional expertise of village level extension worker – There are many qualified persons employed in different positions in agriculture and other line departments, but the person who is in direct touch with farmer is VLW. ICAR (1998) report states that out of 1,10,000 extension staff, only around 20 percent are graduates. In this context, transferring the emerging technologies to the poor and illiterate farmer at village level is a challenging task.
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3. At present the role of VLW is confined to providing advisory to the process of production. But, the fate of the farmer is decided later i.e. in processing and marketing in which VLW has limited role. Advisory is confined to recommendation of technologies but where about of inputs, information on price and infrastructure for storing, processing is left to the farmer, which are more crucial. The VLW is responsible to provide information but not accountable to the consequences. Due to lack of accountability, the farmer is owning responsibility to his fate. To that extent the importance of extension worker is reduced in the eyes of the farmer. Thus the information provided by the neighbourer out of his experience and the inputs by the dealer for credit gained importance in the eyes of the farmer. This is reflected in many information consultancy pattern studies where neighbourers and input dealers are rated high. These ground realities and future concerns are echoed in National Agriculture Policy.
The references made on private extension in National Agriculture Policy are v
“The involvement of co-operatives and private sector will be encouraged for development of animal husbandry, poultry and dairy”.
v
“Role of KVK’s, NGO’s, farmer’s organizations, co-operatives, corporate sectors and Para – technicians in Agricultural extension will be encouraged for organizing demand driven production systems. The government will endeavor to move towards a regime of financial sustainability of extension services through affecting in a phased manner, a mere realistic cost recovery of extension services and inputs, while simultaneously safeguarding the interests of the poor and the vulnerable groups”.
v
“Development, production and distribution of improved varieties of seeds and planting materials and strengthening and expansion of seed and plant certification system with private sector participation will receive a high priority”.
v
“Protection to plant varieties through a sui generis legislation will be
Private Extension in India
3
granted to encourage research and breeding of new varieties particularly in the private sector in the line with India’s obligations under TRIPS agreement”. v
“A conducive climate will be created through a favorable price and trade regime to promote farmers own investments as also investments by industries producing inputs for agriculture will also be encouraged more particularly in areas like Agricultural Research, Human Resource Development, Post-harvest Management and Marketing”.
v
“Collaboration between the producer co-operatives and the corporate sector will be encouraged to promote agro-processing industry. The small farmers agro-business consortium will be energized to cater to the needs of farmer entrepreneurs and promote public and private investment in Agri-business”.
v
“The private sector participation will be promoted through contract farming and land leasing arrangements to allow accelerated technology transfer, capital inflow and assured markets for crop production especially of oil seeds, cotton and horticultural crops”.
v
“The government will provide a true support for the promotion of cooperative form of enterprise and ensure greater autonomy and operational freedom to them to improve their functioning”.
The policy implies the following s
The government will encourage the participation of private sector in Agriculture and Animal husbandry research, extension, marketing, postharvest management and HRD.
s
Government is more determined to strengthen public extension, introduce cost recovery for services in phased manner, and increase accountability while safeguarding poor and vulnerable groups.
Hence, private extension has important role to play in future in development of Agriculture in India. 4
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What is Private Extension / Privatization? The definition of Agricultural Extension varies from simple transfer of information to facilitating the process of total human development. The services are mainly funded and delivered by government in Indian context. But, there are private players who also fund and / or deliver extension services. This process of funding and delivering the extension services by private individual or organization is called Private Extension. But, privatization is the act of reducing the role of government or increasing the role of private sector in an activity or in the ownership of assets (Savas, 1987). Very often Private Extension and privatization are viewed similarly. Private Extension is solely the act of private individuals or organizations where the decision of privatization solely rests with government implemented in liaison with Private Extension Service Provider (PESP’s). Hence, both are different. And also, Private Extension and privatization need not have cost recovery or charging fee based. Because, NGO’s being PESP’s provide extension service free of cost and involving NGO’s in the process of privatization need not end in cost recovery always. Hence, these two concepts not necessarily always linked to charging.
Stake holders in Private Extension / Privatization In the process of privatization, public extension is always a part. In Private Extension, players are 1.
Agricultural Consultants.
2.
Agricultural Consultancy Firms.
3.
Progressive Farmers.
4.
Farmer’s organization / co-operatives.
5.
Non-governmental Organizations (NGO’s).
Private Extension in India
5
6.
Krishi Vignana Kendra’s (KVK’s).
7.
Agri-business Companies.
8.
Input Dealers.
9.
Newspapers.
10. Agricultural Magazines. 11. Private Television Channels 12. Private Sector Banks. 13. Internet. 14. Donor Agencies. The role played by these players has significant impact on Indian Agriculture. But, no academic attempt is made to assess the strength of private extension in Indian Agriculture as such attempt will help the government to regulate the activities of PESP, also to formulate the strategy to utilize their services through privatization and to reduce the burden on public exchequer accordingly. The word private has created much confusion in the minds of people. Very frequently confronted doubts are 1. Is it necessary to think / work about private extension while being part of public extension? Private and public extensions are the two sides of the same coin called Agricultural Extension. Both aims at serving the ultimate client farmer through different ways. Hence, they are the co-partners in the process of development of farmer. Therefore, it is necessary to understand each other and work together. It is the bound duty of public extension worker to work with all others who are working for farmer. 2. Whether private extension is a substitute for public extension? Not at present. Public extension is the only set up in the country, which is capable of serving 200 million farmers and farming families. 6
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But for public extension also, it is impossible to meet all the farmers, all the time. This gap created is filled, but not fully by private extension service providers. The examples are 1.
In crops like – coffee, tea, grapes and floriculture.
2.
In areas like – supply of inputs, processing and marketing.
3.
In farmer categories like – commodity based farmer’s organization, big farmers and farmers in irrigated areas.
4.
In risk prone agriculture by NGO’s. And
5.
Agricultural Communication through Newspapers, Magazines and private TV channels.
These sporadic activities are themselves product of either gap filling or substitution process. The space created by public extension is becoming an active ground for private extension. This gap filling / substitution process is expected to continue in the light of availability of huge space created by public extension, WTO and rapid commercialization of Agriculture. The commercialized agriculture requires private good information / services, which are provided by PESP, will catch up in a big way in future. The magnitude of gap filling / substitution is very small, however, it is yet to be assessed. 3. If allowed, being in frontline, PESP may exploit the farmers. It has happened in the past in seed and pesticide areas. It may happen in future also. To prevent, it is necessary to regulate the activities of PESP through enforcement of legislation. However, monopoly is no good for any system. Agriculture extension is not an exception. Over the years, we may see very healthy competition between private and public extension as it is in medical, transport and telecom field. The ultimate winner would be farmer. He will decide the service provider based on quality of service he obtains to his satisfaction level. At the same time, he would not choose somebody who tries to exploit him. Private Extension in India
7
It is necessary for the government to workout the operational guidelines and frame work for private extension so that the service would not suffer at the same time, farmer would not be exploited. This kind of extension is operational in Chile. 4. In private extension, the services are always charged. Need not be. NGO’s are part of private extension and they do not charge for their services. 5. Whether PESP is accountable to the farmer? Yes. Majority of the cases in private extension, the farmer pays for the service. He has every right to claim the quality of service morally and legally. There are many examples where PESP paid compensation to farmers for the inferior quality of service provided. The government can strengthen this system of regulation through legislation. The accountability factor is more focused and taken care by extension contract system in China. 6. Does paid extension bring desirable change? Accountability in the service provided, the confidence with which the farmer demands the services and the quality of services provided by PESP to survive in the field are expected to induce a dynamic change in Indian Agriculture. Farmer commands respect and demands service just because he pays. He also uses the services responsibly, because it is not free, paid out of his hard earned money. 7. Whether all farmers are capable of paying for services? The amount paid for extension depends on the kind of service received. Big farmers are paying for specific information / service and advanced technology. An international experience shows that a small farmer also pays, not individually but in-group. Hence, the per head contribution is less and the benefit will easily out weight the cost. Government can also pay on behalf of small farmers to PESP. 8
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8. Whether private extension / privatization through payment is value addition to the extension? Buying the information like other inputs namely seeds, fertilizers, farmer considers information on par with and as important as other inputs. If it happens, it will be a major shift in the minds of farmer, which the Indian Agriculture always wanted to happen. Private Extension / Privatization is tried in many countries and the lessons out of their experiences are most valuable. Some of the important lessons out of international experiences are: 1.
Private Extension reduces the economic burden of the governments – Netherland.
2.
Increases the efficiency of extension services provided up to the satisfaction of farmers. Otherwise, replaced by other PESP. Government has perfect control over Private Extension – Chile.
3.
Personal Economic interest of the extension agent mixed with his profession increases his involvement in extension activity – share cropping in Equador.
4.
Privatization increases the accountability of extension agent – Extension contract system in China.
5.
It is possible to prevent the farmers being exploited by private extension agents by proper legislation – Denmark.
6.
Private Extension is cost effective compared to public extension due to low overhead charges – United Kingdom.
7.
Certification and grading of technical consultants is possible for regulation – Germany.
8.
Government can focus on sustainable areas leaving regular extension to private extension – Tunisia.
Private Extension in India
9
Necessary condition for Private Extension / Privatization 1.
Assessing the strength of PESP.
2.
Establishment of agency to inspect, grade, certification and monitoring of PESP.
3.
Areas / crops / type of farmers may be identified for handing over extension services in a phased manner to PESP.
4.
Consolidating and strengthening the public extension and to focus on public goods and farmers / crops / areas not covered by PESP.
5.
Encouraging the formation of farmer’s organizations i.e. different interest groups, so that reaching the client becomes easy for private or public extension.
Private Extension / privatization approaches which could be tried in India. 1. Share cropping system: –The extension worker provides advisory and inputs. Farmer uses his land and labour. Extension worker share the crop with farmer for a profit. Hired labour and other costs are shared. The extension workers using his link easily obtain farm inputs from input dealers even for credit until the harvest. Share cropped field serves as a demonstration plot. Since, extension worker has a personal stake, it motivates him to put maximum effort. Extension worker can also enter into agreement with as many farmers as he can, depending on his financial position and time. 2. Extension contract system: –Agricultural consultant / firm will provide advisory and inputs to individual farmer or group. The cost of input is recovered after the harvest. The extension worker / firm is compensated by the farmer with some percent of the value of the crop above the agreed target. If the harvest falls below the agreed target as a result of poor technical recommendations or non-supply of timely inputs, the compensation amount will be proportionately reduced. 10
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3. Village extension contract system: – An agricultural advisory committee consisting of representatives of farmers at village level hire consultancy. Even Panchayat can undertake similar role. Consultant work for the village as per the requirements of village, as mutually decided by committee and consultant. The committee collect money from villagers based on some criteria like area / crop and pay for consultancy. Panchayat can also meet from its exchequer. Here, consultancy is a group approach where as for specific visits farmer has to pay. 4. Contract farming: - The agri-business firm provides all inputs and technology. It also supervises production process. As per the MOU’S the farmer has to sell his product, as quality specified to the firm only, for a premium price. The firm process and sell the product. Here the farmer gets input, technology and market support. The firm gets quality products at reasonable price by eliminating the middlemen. 5. Public extension through private delivery: - Agricultural consultancy firms are graded and certified by a government agency. Depending on PESP capacity, extension services are awarded to competitive bidders at different levels i.e. state, district, block / village Panchayat. The service cost is shared between government and clients i.e. farmers in different proportions. If the clients are not happy about the service, the consultancy firm will be replaced by others. 6. Service for vouchers: - Farmers are not provided with public extension service but given vouchers depending upon the size of the land, type of crop and type of information needed for certain years, say five. Farmers can use those services trading the vouchers to any agricultural consultant / firm, whether public or private, but after the period he has to pay for all the services fully, as and when he receives. These vouchers will go to other farmers i.e. next priority group. Thus, gradually farmers are empowered and public service is gradually withdrawn. 7.
PESP can provide inputs and also get better price for farmers than the existing local market for a fee.
Private Extension in India
11
8.
PESP can provide infrastructure facilities like storage, transportation, machineries etc., for rent.
9.
A little money from the agricultural loan advanced is deducted for paid extension services. Depending upon farmer’s needed and purpose for which loan is extended the service will be provided.
10. Opportunities may be created for scientists working at national institutes and Agricultural Universities to take up consultancy at other countries. 11. Scientists working at national institutes and Agricultural Universities may be encouraged to take up consultancy assignments with Agribusiness companies. 12. Technologies developed at government research stations can be sold to certified consultancy firms. They can in turn find the market and sell to the clients. This is suitable to hi-tech agriculture. 13. Government can take up training Agricultural graduates in agricultural consultancy. Trained consultants will be certified by a government agency. Certified consultants can form a professional body at national level in the lines of Indian Medical Council. This professional body could workout guidelines to regulate the activities of consultants in liaison with government. This professional body can take over bigger agricultural projects reducing burden on government but working with government. Government can insist for certified consultants for assigning work. 14. All the agri-business companies are interested in marketing their own products and accordingly carry out extension activities independently. But, from farmer point of view, he needs a package rather than a product or practice. Thus, a seed company, a fertilizer company, a pesticide company, a agri-machinary company, a agro-processing company can together carryout extension activity, ultimately benefiting themselves in saving cost and farmer by providing a package.
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15. Emphasis on Agricultural journalism in print, radio and TV. 16. Government can provide salaries to the extension workers but operational cost of services is met by clients. To day, the dream of country in attaining self-sufficiency in food production is fulfilled. But, individual farmer has to meet his other growing needs by selling his marketable surplus. He is aiming at making more profit with the same piece of land i.e. with the help of choosing a good crop, using good technology, adding value to his product and selling at a better price. These factors vary with farmer to farmer. Hence, there is very good scope for private good which cannot be practically met by government to all the farmers. Hence, it is necessary to encourage various PESP’s for making the task of government easy but with a strict regulation of PESP activities. Hence, the strategy needed to be. 1.
Public extension has to maintain just regulatory staff in extension activities where PESP are already operating i.e. where less demand for public extension.
2.
Government should encourage the PESP to participate in the potential areas, so that it can reduce cost of public extension in such areas.
3.
Reorganize the public extension, maintain the regulatory activity of private sector through out the country but focus on areas which are unattended by private extension like sustainable development.
Attitude and preferences of stakeholders in public extension about private extension / privatization. Some of the studies interestingly pointed out that stakeholders in extension had favorable attitude towards Private Extension / Privatization. 1. Attitude and preferences of scientists Good number of scientists (50 percent) had favourable and 22.5 percent had most favourable attitude towards privatization. The favourable Private Extension in India
13
attitude of higher proportion of scientists is attributed mainly to the following positive aspects of privatization. Scientists felt that going privatization is expected to ease the financial burden of government, enhance the over all efficiency of Agricultural extension system, provides need based advisory services and farmers are more committed to the services (Shivalinga Gowda and Saravanan, 2000). The findings are also supported by the outcome of the study conducted by venkatkumar et al (2000). 2. Attitude and preferences of extension workers 42.8 percent of the extension workers preferred privatization of all crops (Venkat Kumar et al, 2000). Majority of the extension personnel (66.67 percent) were convinced about the advantages of privatization of extension services (Hanchinal et al, 2000). 3. Attitude and preferences of farmers Most of the farmers (76.59 percent) had favorable attitude towards privatization. The seed production activity of Agri-business firms changed the socio-economic conditions of the farmers in the study area and this fact influenced the farmer’s attitude towards privatization. Large majority of the farmers were willing to pay for the technical services rendered in the area of seed production (89.92 percent) followed by irrigation technology (56.67 percent), flowers (56.67 percent), fruit crops (55 percent) and vegetables (52.08 percent) (Hanchinal et al, 2000). An interesting study conducted by Sulaiman and Sadamate (2000) in three states indicated the following results. 1.
Input dealers, relatives / friends of farmers, newspapers and farm magazines are the important source of information consulted by farmers for making decisions in Agriculture out of 22 sources existed.
2.
Almost half of the farmers expressed their willingness to pay for extension services. The reasons may be
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a.
Farmers are shifting from food crops to non-food crops.
b.
Non-food crops involved high investment and needs information which majority of the time not available in Department of Agriculture. Farmer look for other agencies and ready to purchase information, which is vital to make profit.
c. Types of information / services for which farmers are ready to make payment. Sl. Type of information No. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.
Maharastra
Percentage Rajasthan
Kerala
53.6
-
-
-
40.0
-
7.3
23.0
37.3
-
-
36.0
22.0 7.3 -
16.7
26.7 20.0 -
4.9 4.9
-
-
Percentage Rajasthan 47.5 37.5
Kerala 38.7 -
-
-
-
24.0 21.3
-
16.0
15.0 -
-
Advice to solve specific problems in the field Advice on plant protection measurers Training programmes on new technologies On all aspects of growing new crops Proper plant protection advice New information / technologies Information on loans, subsidies and other assistance to farmers Advice on marketing On hybrid seed
d. Conditions for payment Sl. Conditions for payment No. Maharastra 1. Advice based on field visits 32.6 2. Sharing costs for an expert at 16.3 the village level 3. Expert advice made available 36.7 at one place 4. The charges should be reasonable 5. Firms to be brought under the preview of consumer court 6. The firms to provide receipts for the payment made 7. Seasonal / annual contract 8. Effect of advice if guaranteed 14.3 Private Extension in India
15
e. Crops having high demand for paid services Sl. Crops No.
Percentage of farmers willing to pay Maharastra Rajasthan Kerala
1.
Oil seeds
-
54.3
-
2.
Vegetables
45.3
31.4
46.8
3.
Flower cultivation
22.7
14.9
29.0
4.
Grapes
20.4
-
-
5.
Citrus
9.1
-
-
6.
Spices
-
-
24.2
Majority of the farmers (30.2 percent) are willing to pay Rs. 25/- as fee to extension advisor followed by Rs.10/- (27.3 percent), Rs.50/- (21.0 percent), Rs.20/- (11.2 percent) and Rs. 100/- (10.3 percent). However, that also depends on quality of information, crop cultivated and demand of farmers. Venkat Kumar et al (2000) found that 28.29 percent of the farmers preferred privatization of extension of commercial crops and 22.22 percent preferred big farmers to be included for paid extension.
Conclusion Indian agriculture is self-reliant in food production. But, Indian farmer is not self-reliant to meet all his diversified and growing demands in this era of modernization. He is looking for more profit through his agriculture means. It may be through low cost technology, high production technology, and value addition, good marketing or through any other ways. This needs individual understanding of the farmer and attention, which the public extension finds difficult to provide considering the large number and diversified clients. The space created by this gap is filled by private extension. Extent of gap filling and possibility of substitution depends on encouragement of government and efficiency of PESP. Through national agricultural policy, government is determined to strengthen the public extension system and equally determined to encourage
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participation of private sector in agricultural extension. In the light of WTO, these two decisions are most significant steps. This co-existence of public and private extension will surely help the ultimate consumer, the farmer through competitive, cost effective and efficient service.
References Hanchinal, S.N., Sundaraswamy, B. and Ansari, M.R. (2000). Attitudes and preferences of farmers towards privatization of extension service. Paper presented at National Seminar on private extension held at MANAGE, Hyderabad during 28-29th , July, 2000. Rasheed sulaiman, V and Sadamate, V.V. (2000). privatizing Agricultural Extension in India, policy paper – 10, NCAP, New Delhi. Shivalinge Gowda N.S. and Saravanan, R. (2000), Attitude and preferences of Agricultural Scientists towards privatization of Agricultural Extension service. Paper presented at National Seminar on private extension held at MANAGE, Hyderabad during 28-29 th , July 2000. Venkata Kumar, R., Anandaraja, M. and Sripal, K.B. (2000), privatization of Agricultural extension Systems in India. Presented at National Seminar on private extension held at MANAGE, Hyderabad during 28-29 th, July,2000. www.nic website on government departments as on 2-02-2001.
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Microlevel Opportunities and Challenges for Privatisation of Agricultural Extension M.J.Chandre Gowda
INTRODUCTION Extension service has been an important input for agricultural development in most developing countries including India, where agriculture remains the only source of revenue for millions of rural poor. In most of these countries, agricultural extension is public funded. Increasing financial difficulties have made these countries to think of ways to reduce support services to agriculture. Privatisation represents one of several alternatives to activate the inefficient or budget starved public extension services. Indian approaches to agricultural extension largely the adapted versions of the extension services of donor countries or the T&V system supported by World Bank. Way back in 1993 themselves, it was cautioned that the extension services as implemented under the existing system require major changes in direction and strategy. It was also questioned whether a systematic and nation wide approach to extension such as that being implemented in India is appropriate and sustainable over long run (Ameur, 1994). Although, not well documented, private extension exists in India through banks, agri-business and input agencies, processing industries, marketing firms, multinational companies and NGOs. Farmers’ associations are getting increasingly activated to educate their members and provide parallel services to the ones offered by public extension system on their own. Multiple approaches to * Scientist Sr.Scale (Agricultural Extension), Division of Extension and Training, Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hessaraghatta Lake post, Bangalore 560089, Kamataka 18
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extension are necessary to Indian situations because of its diversities and complexities but a well-defined strategy is lacking. A workable strategy requires an in-depth understanding of the human environment, farmers’ problems, constraints and aspirations. These multitudes are the ground realities and hence are to be considered very carefully for successful privatization. An attempt is made in this presentation to bring out the ground realities that favor as well as challenge the systematic introduction of private extension in Indian agriculture.
Favorable Factors for Privatization of Agricultural Extension in India 1. Technological advancement in the areas of Communication & Information Technology: Private agencies can sustain in field only if they are successful in terms of increasing income to farmers through their services - mainly information about technological advancements. Developments in IT enable them to access the latest, information, decode it to suitable form and deliver without much delay. The information support given to a farmer at crisis situations is more valued than anything else is. Agricultural extension workers using information technology will play an increasingly important role in crop production and natural resource management. Precision farming methods based on scientific land and water use planning requires concurrent attention to natural capital stock and natural resources. This is possible as the information and communication revolution allows for systematic assimilation and dissemination of relevant and timely information (Swaminathan, 1999). Prof. Swaminathan considers this as one of the three major revolutions in Science & Technology, which will influence agricultural technology in the new millennium in a fundamental manner. Advances in the field of telecommunications have resulted in better linking of villages with urban areas. This particular development plays a crucial role in enabling private extension agencies to have continuous touch with their field staff. The sight of extension staff carrying cell phones to fields is not too far. Cell phones with e-mail facility should not be a dream either. These developments Private Extension in India
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give heavy advantage to private extension agencies to deliver messages that are latest and trustworthy. Prof. Jhunjhunwala, who has studied the field problems in establishing reliable telephone networks in rural areas, feels that the rural telephone booths operated by self-employed youth and entrepreneurs can be converted into Internet kiosks. According to him, IT is looked as liberating, rather than as yet another technology that pushes them into the category of have-nots. The agricultural extension machinery should be totally revamped to meet the information hungry farmers (Venkataramani, 1999). 2. Opening out of public research and educational institutes to part with the technologies: Liberalization and commercialization of agricultural research institutes has become a boon for privatization efforts. National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research envisages clear role for both public and private systems under innovations in technology dissemination component. The Agricultural Technology Information Centers are providing single window service in most of the universities and research institutes to transfer their technologies. Consultancy cells have been put up in these institutes to cater to the needs of farmers, entrepreneurs, researchers and all categories of information and technology needy people. It is an attempt to support private systems in reaching the target group. Private agencies are also taking advantage of the facilities to initiate collaborative research works to generate information on certain basic aspects, which they cannot do on their own. 3. Changing-cropping trend and emergence of contract farming: Assurance of farm-gate market for their produce has made several farmers to change cropping pattern that fit into contract farming. Medicinal and aromatic crops, fruit crops, a few vegetable crops like medicinal cucumber (gerkin), marigold, dhavana, export quality grapes, mango, and processing type tomato are a few examples in this regard. Seed to seed agreements with advance fixation of rates for their produce are commonly seen in contract farming. Mutual trust is the key word in this business. Technical guidance and 20
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constant supervision are offered to farmers along with the best quality inputs starting from planting material to ensure benefit for both the sides. Farmers feel secured in contract farming because contractors take half of the risk of quality as well as the quantity of the production. 4. Need to earn more from smaller holdings: Much of the revenue generation for farmers in dry zones is from commercial horticultural crops grown in irrigated situations. However the irrigated area available with farmers is very little. For instance, Eastern dry zone of Karnataka has 14.97 Iakh hectares of geographical area, 8.47-lakh hectare of net-cropped area and only 1.80 lakh hectares of irrigated area. Study of the two villages in this zone revealed that average holding of irrigated area is about an acre. Farmers invest about 50,000 for irrigation facilities and nobody guarantees how long the irrigation source lasts. Out of desperation to earn more spatially and temporarily from the limited irrigated area, farmers are forced to listen to whoever promises them a fast buck. Hence, private extension has greater scope to enter the technology transfer area through horticultural crops. 5. Loss of credibility in the existing extension system: All said and done, departmental officials enjoy working with a few progressive farmers who are easily accessible for developmental activities. According to an estimate, 53 percent of the resources of public sector extension organizations are allocated for the larger scale, more progressive and commercial farmers (Swanson et. al., 1989). Few extension resources are allocated to some of the commodities such as oilseed, pulse, millet, and horticultural crops, and livestock enterprises (Das, 1998). Laboratory facilities are not available even at district level making farmers to shy away from seeking any advice offered without proper analysis. Little attention was given to developing a cadre of well qualified specialists with both technical competence and the professional skills needed to pass their knowledge and skills to extension field staff and in turn to farmers (Anon., 1999). Interacting with field staff is so depressing to many farmers because of the time and effort they have to spend for such interactions. Private Extension in India
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This may be the reason for the fact that seed industries and input dealers do much of the extension work for most horticultural crops. Because of the supply of inputs either on loan basis or as part of the marketing of the produce through them, farmers is in one way are bonded to traders. Farmers have very little choice other than this. 6. Inability of the public extension system to reach the large target client system: Staff strength in developmental departments is awfully inadequate considering the enormous size of the client system. Field extension staff strength and its ratio to number of horticultural farm families to be covered in Karnataka runs to 1:2000. Karnataka has got about 11.8 lakh hectare under horticultural crops (Suresh and Devaraja, 1999). The horticultural department has around 900 Horticultural Assistants to do field extension activities apart from the job of manning their own farms and nurseries. Considering the poor infrastructure and facilities provided to these staff, it is next to impossible to meet these target families even once in a year. Added to this, deskwork in the form of report writing, preparing plans for various schemes and complex procedures to be followed to claim bills take much of the valuable time of the field staff.
Challenges for Privatization of Agricultural Extension in India 1. Larger Area under Subsistence Farming: This is a challenge to privatization if private extension systems have to be sustainable financially on their own. According to secondary sources of data, about 70 percent of the net sown area in India is rain dependent, cultivating 92.4 % of the coarse cereals, 92.8 % of pulses and 83.3 % of oil seed crops. Similarly in the eastern dry zone of Karnataka, 78.75 % of the net cultivated area of 8.47 lakh hectares is rain fed where crops like ragi, maize, horse gram red gram, and groundnut are grown. About 52 % of total holdings in this zone are less than one hectare in size. Extension approaches in these areas face lots of hurdles because of complex, diverse and risk proneness of the 22
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production environments. Neither the farmers are resource endowed to pay for private extension nor the private extension agencies will be able to help substantial increase in farmers’ income in these production systems. 2. Need for Location Specific Technologies: Agricultural extension in India has evolved from its education/teaching mode of 1950s & 60s, and input supply mode of 1970s and 80s to participatory mode in 1990s. As a result, the country is witnessing a major change in its hither to adopted top-down approach to bottom-up approach. This is mainly because of the realization of the need for location specific technologies developed and tested in farmer situation and accepted by them without being persuaded. Any effort to privatize extension system should necessarily be able to assess and refine technologies in close collaboration with research and farming community before attempting technology transfer. Without which, the private extension service is likely to be as ineffective as the public extension systems. Some of the successful voluntary organizations like BAIF, has their own research support system apart from good linkages with public research and educational institutions. 3. Women Dominated Rural Work Force: Agriculture in India is a family occupation. Contact farmer approach adopted by the Agricultural Extension Systems and also the progressive farmer dependency of the field workers has served only to neglect the whole family approach. The educational activities conducted by training and developmental organizations have been largely non-target orientated. For example an analysis of activities of the dairy enterprise in two villages of eastern dry zone of Karnataka revealed that ten out of 14 activities are mainly done by women farmers. Even then, none of these women have been given exclusive training on dairy enterprise. To be successful, extension systems need to have approaches to reach, efficiently and economically, and to work with farmwomen in addition to farmers and farm youth. Private Extension in India
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In the emerging knowledge intensive agricultural era, international cooperation is vital for taking the benefits of new technologies to those who have so far been bypassed by new knowledge and techniques. Women farmers and farm labor need particular attention in any agricultural extension and developmental program designed to reach the un-reached. The gender dimension needs to be internalized in all research educational and developmental programs intended to promote the conservation of biodiversity and natural resources (Swaminathan, 1998). It is not easy to involve rural women in educational activities for reasons well known to everyone. It has been a challenge even to public extension system. Employing women field staff may help to overcome this challenge to some extent. But to employ women at field level itself is a challenging one. 4. Competition among Private Extension Systems leading to contradictory messages: Many of the extension professionals in education and research institutes fear the real intentions of private extension systems. Commodity oriented agribusiness and input dealers always try to push through their products without giving any heed to what farmers needs. The contradictory messages given by many agencies may actually put farmers in a confusing state. The natural resources, which are being mismanaged by the farmers due to inadequate information till now, may do it because of too many options in future. Given that system based and sustainable technologies such as 1PM and NRM, are largely knowledge based, there would be an expanded need in the future to organize farmers training courses that would increase technical and managerial skills. It is a challenge to private extension systems to organize training programs and talk to farmers in a single voice.
Conclusion Privatization of agricultural extension system should not be seen as an alternative to public extension system. Public sector has got a comparative 24
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advantage in disseminating location specific, system based and sustainable technologies. Private sector will have a greater success in the areas of hitech and commercial aspects, input supply and other technical services. The infrastructure and the extension already available should be strategically deployed to improve the efficiency of the public extension system. Private extension systems should play a complementary role so that all sectors of farmers get the required support at the right time and in the right form. Due attention need to be given to the challenges that have been discussed in this paper for reaping the results of privatisation of agricultural extension which is long due.
References Ameur, C., 1994. Agricultural Extension : A step beyond the next step. World Bank Technical Paper No. 247, The World Bank, Washington D.C. Anonymous, 1999. Innovations in technology dissemination. NATP Main Document, Indian Council of Agricultural Research, New Delhi. Das, P., 1998. Scope and methodology of participatory extension research for complex diverse and risk prone agriculture. Lecture delivered at the Institution of Agricultural Technologies, Bangalore on 17 January 1998. Suresh, B.H. and Devaraja, T.S., 1999. Marketing of horticultural produce in Karnataka state: Present status and required changes. Agricultural Situation of India, 56(8) 467-470. Swaminathan, M.S., (Ed.,), 1998. Gender Dimensions in Biodiversity Management. Konark Publishers Pvt.Ltd., Delhi. Swaminathan, M.S., 1999. The challenges ahead. The Hindu Survey of Indian Agriculture 1999. Chennai. Swanson, B.E., B.J. Farmer, and R. Bahal, 1989. Current status of agricultural extension worldwide. Report of the Global Consultation on Agricultural Extension. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome. Private Extension in India
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Private Extension in India: Issues and Options K. Chandrakandan 1 and C. Karthiikeyan 2
In the present day context of Globalization, liberalization and shifts that occurred in the world agricultural sector have increased the bounded responsibility of extension functionaries to cater the changing needs of the diverse farmers. Increasing budgetary crisis and fiscal deficits have forced to look into alternative ways of financing agricultural extension services to the public extension systems. Recently, National Agricultural Research and Extension Services have suffered from declining resources, during a period when constraints of small farmers have been greatly intensified (Ameru, 1994). It is of unanimous opinion that extension must respond to the needs of society and should also be productive and responsive. It has become a debatable issue between those who advocate top-down (supply-driven) and those who propound bottom-up (demand-driven) services. The increasing inability of the governments to adequately fund its extension machinery is the real force behind the search for alternative approaches such as ‘cost sharing’ and ‘privatization’. With the realization of sensitivities in the ‘cost of extension’, it is not surprising that ‘privatization’ and ‘cost recovery’ of extension services have taken on a certain attractive services not only in developed countries, but also in developing countries (Baxter, 1987). It would be pertinent to have a look at the experiences of other countries of the world before stating its feasibility to our situation. 1 Professor, Dept. of Agri. Extension and Rural Sociology, TNAU, Coimbatore. 2 Assistant Professor, Dept. of Agrl.Extension and Rural Sociology, TNAU, Coimbatore
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Privatization - International Experiences The experiences of different countries with regard to the privatization of extension services are presented hereunder. Britain: The Agricultural Development and Advisory Service (ADAS of the Ministry of Agriculture, and Food charge fee for services of direct benefit to the clients, but not for the services which spread benefits across society, such as those relating to soil conservation (Harter, 1992). Norway: While the government pays salary, the farmers’ circle pays the operational fees (as 50:50 cost sharing agreement) (Hommes,1995). Mexico: Is planning to shift at least half the cost of extension services to farmers groups in irrigated areas. It is emphasizing cost cutting through privatization and user of mass media (Cruikshank, 1995). Korea and Taiwan: The co-operative (government farmer associations or farmer arrangement) structure of extension has developed in two Far Eastern countries, Korea and Taiwan (Rivera, 1991). Chile: The government provides funds (maximum of 80% of total cost of project to private technology transfer consultancy firms which comprises of one or two agronomists and a few agricultural technicians (Berdegue, 1994). New Zealand: Private consultants play an important role in agriculture in the industrialized country, New Zealand (Cary, 1995). Canada: Commodity groups fund and control their own extension agronomists. Turkey: Extension cost is shared between farmer groups and the Government through the chambers of Agriculture (World Bank, 1994). Colombia: Municipalities pay for all extension services out of local tax revenue. In pursuing the public interest, Bloome (1992) observed that attempts to demarcate the benefits of extension activities in to public and private categories Private Extension in India
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are not helpful. In the analysis of ‘fee for extension” experience of Tasmania and New Zealand he found that fee based policy could not generate even after 10 years and also resulted in restricted personal contact with the farmers, thereby retarding the total effectiveness of extension service. Similarly in New Zealand, with the onset of fee-based policy the number of clientele had fallen down by more than 50 per cent. In some developed countries like USA, agricultural extension is provided by the agricultural universities or by vocational agricultural schools, where extension education is mainly an advisory service.
Indian Experience India has the largest extension system in the world with 1,17,603 paid agricultural extension personnel catering to the farming and allied needs of over 90 million farm families. Among these an overwhelming majority were small and marginal farmers with an average land holding of 1.63 ha, scattered and fragmented over different agro-climatic zones (Ameru, 1994). There are five well-specified extension systems prevalent in our country. They are First-Line Extension Education System (ICAR/SAUs), National Agricultural Extension Service / T&V System, Special Extension Programme on specific crops, Rural Development Programmes and Extension Programme of NonGovernmental Organizations, each having its own mandate on poverty eradication. The First-Line Extension System of Ministry of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and State Agricultural Universities (SAUs) have only limited jurisdiction in coverage, while compared to Extension System of Ministry of Agriculture having a broader network. The non-government organizations engaged in extension activities include mostly voluntary agencies (partly or fully funded by government for extension activities), business houses, agricultural processing firms, producer’s co-operatives, input agencies and private consultants. According to Bloome (1992) the privatized extension involves any personnel in the private sector delivering advisory services in the areas of agriculture and is viewed as an alternative to public extension. In India and many of 28
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the developing countries extension is not merely transfer of technology and information. It takes care of the broad perspective of human resource development of its clients. Speaking the Indian context, stress on two crucial issues need to be considered. Firstly, the ability of the farmers to pay for the extension services and secondly, how to demarcate the benefits of extension as ‘private and ‘public’. In India, more than 70 per cent of the operational farm holdings are small and marginal, and 70 per cent of net sown area is rain fed, susceptible to external vagaries where farmers are mostly small and marginal working in resource poor and risk situations with poor infrastructure and institutional support. So the scope of privatization or cost sharing for extension services in Indian situations is limited owing to poor socioeconomic conditions of majority of farmers. More than two-third of the farmers in India manage resource poor situations and to expect them to pay for not too remunerative advises need lot of thinking (Kamerman and Kahn, 1994). But the situation in irrigated areas is quantitatively different, where the farmers are relatively prosperous as against their counterparts in rain fed areas. This potential in irrigated areas can be made use of to a certain extents in cost recovery approach. Subsidizing the big farmers in potential areas for some services like issue of plant protection chemical and sale of publications can be withdrawn. There are evidences even at present that, the big farmers are receiving advice and other extension services from private consultancy firms in different parts of the country especially in commercial crops such as grapes, sugarcane, cardamom, ornamental plants, cocoa, tea, coffee, rubber etc. So the public extension system can re-orient its strategies in such areas and such high value cash crops for partial withdrawal and cost recovery. Commercial agencies concentrate their activities on areas possessing extremely favorable physical environments and they normally won’t invest in rain fed, unfavorable and resource-poor environment where there is least possibility to make profits. As in India more than 50 per cent of the total cropped area Private Extension in India
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belongs to this category, private extension sectors do not apply their resources to fundamental food crops; rather they contribute their inputs to high value cash crops (Baxter, 1987). Agricultural development in India for the time begin attained a stage where more reliance has to be emphasized on rain fed / dry land areas for national food security, correction of nutritional and regional imbalances and generation of widespread rural employment opportunities in hinterlands. These situations therefore necessitate the need for more public support to extension services in those areas and to put it briefly, the time is not yet ripe in India to think over the complete withdrawal of public support to extension.
Factors for Privatization of Agricultural Extension Service in India The following factors have to be considered for privatization of agricultural extension service in India. 1.
Types of crops cultivated throughout the country.
2.
Socio-economic strata differences among the farming community viz., tenancy, ownership, leased, small, marginal, medium and large farmers categories.
3.
Entirely drastic agro-climatic variations along and across the length and breadth of the country.
4.
Different approaches followed in various developing and developed countries and their utility possibilities in our country, environment etc.
5. Changes in rainfall pattern, vagaries of monsoon, floods, cyclone etc.
Approaches to Privatization There are different ways in which farmers can contribute to the costs of a privatized extension service (Van den Ban & Hawkins, 1994). 1.
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They can pay a fee for each visit an extension agent makes to their farm or for each other service the extension agent provides, which MANAGE
is also the way consulting firms are paid in many other branches of industry. 2.
A levy can be charged on certain agricultural products from which, agricultural research and extension are financed. However, it is easier to collect some products than from others. In less industrialized countries it is much easier to collect it from export products than from produce sold on local markets, especially when a marketing board has a monopoly.
3.
Costs can be met from membership fees paid to farmers’ association. The problem with this approach is that not all farmers will belong to the association.
4.
The extension service can receive a specific portion of the extra income a farmer earns as a result or advice given by the extension agent that is the percentage of profit to be shared by the extension agent. Such a scheme requires a reliable farm accounting system, which cannot currently be achieved in many countries.
Customs service can be offered by way of providing machinery during the season for sowing, planting, weeding, roughing, harvesting, marketing etc. Even these services may include providing lab out on contract basis as being practiced in other industries
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Private Extension in India and a SWOT analysis K. Ravi Shankar
Agricultural extension services are supposed to fulfill many aims, from reducing rural poverty and improved livelihoods for rural households to increasing the overall production and contributing to foreign exchange earnings from export (Haug, 1999). This is especially so in the Indian context. Agricultural extension should not at all be regarded as a system on input distribution. Extension is about development of knowledge and human resources; accordingly agricultural development is much more than the supply of seed and fertilizer (Haug, 1999). A decision on how far India should pursue privatizing it’s Agricultural extension services, would essentially depend upon the type and quality of services made available by different agencies (especially private), information needs of farmers and also farmer’s willingness to pay for extension services (Sulaiman and Sadamate, 2000). There has been perhaps insufficient critical reflection on principles, which should guide the privatization process. Much has already been said about our public extension services such as lack of sustained funding, poor governance, poorly motivated staff, poor coverage and so on. While advocating for privatization, many important issues need to be answered like whether requirements of all groups of farmers are adequately met; whether gender issues are emphasized accordingly; Whether the quality, credibility and sustainability aspects of the new concept are carefully worked out.
Information - Public or Private good: The characterization of extension either as a public or private good depends * Scientist, TOT Section, CRIDA, Hyderabad 32
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both upon the nature of extension itself and upon the stage of development of the country (Carney, 1998). Leonard (1985) argues that most extension work is inevitably a public good everywhere in the world, while Wilson (1991) believes that information on new technology is a public good but that as a certain level of technology becomes widely accepted extension becomes a private good. At this stage farmers require a more individually tailored problem solving service-such information will be subtract able and excludable and, so long as it is of high quality and they should be willing to pay for it. In the short term, information becomes excludable because not all farmers receive the information at the same time because the speed of information dissemination can vary enormously, partly due to differences in medium (word of mouth Vs mass media) and differences in quality of communications infrastructure. However, in the long term the same information will no longer be excludable, as it becomes diffused (Umali and Schwartz, 1994). Certain extension information has the limitation of being available to a selected farming group due to inaccessibility of factors like seed, fertilizer, machines etc., to the entire farming group. Hence private extension can adequately cater to this type of requirements.
Choices: Current privatization models vary from a complete withdrawal of state interventions, to a commercialization and cost - recovery approach (via levies, user charges and contracting public sector services), to an increased involvement of the public services in income generating activities, which includes the sale of seeds, surplus land and produce as well as the sale of publications and other materials (Beynon, 1996). There are no detailed schemes as to which method is appropriate for a particular situation, but these have to be developed based on specific requirements, abilities and resources available at our disposal.
Extension approach in India: Public extension in India should continue to focus on public - good activities such as technology transfer, education (about soil and water conservation, Private Extension in India
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safe use of pesticides, natural resource management, and disease forecasting) and human resource development while the private extension shall focus on exact needs of special clientele groups. It may be noted that private extension agents are far better able to supply marketing information into the extension process, because of their proximity to product markets. NG O’s can play a pivotal role in participatory diagnosis techniques and in areas where technology is absent (Carney, 1998). Public extension in India should concentrate on policy issues, quality control, control by rule functions and on channeling assistance and establishing mechanisms to benefit resource poor - farmers and farmwomen. Policy issues related to land holding, supply of credit, input and marketing, prices are decisive and have not received the needed importance till. In India, systems and institutions should co-exist while addressing the needs of farming community so as to derive synergistic advantages of both. Phasing of privatization is more desirable as the poor farmers continue to be benefited from public extension and rich farmers can be catered by private agencies. It is important to devise a public sector extension policy because the extent to which other bodies will be willing to provide extension services is partially determined by government actions (Carney, 1998). The policies should not at all be influenced by vested political interests, as there will be a clear danger of moving away from reality, if, in this case it is the farmers. As pointed out by Umali and Schwartz (1994), government policy influences commodity prices, degree of development of supporting infrastructure and level of education of farmers. Reforms within the large public sector extension services takes a long time and requires constant efforts by those with vision and the leverage to stimulate change (Carney, 1998). Hence, the underlying need for privatization. The following is a Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis of private extension. It’s applicability and appropriateness to a particular situation / context may be fully recognized so that extension services will be fully geared to meet twin global goals of food security and sustainable food production.
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Strengths: •
Efficiency of delivery channels and economic efficiency in services.
•
More demand - driven rather than supply - driven.
•
High quality of services in terms of satisfying information needs of clientele, Trained manpower, sustained finances and resource allocation. Provides for an information mix and choices available to farmers (Kidd etal, 1997)
•
Closeness to markets. E.g.: input companies.
•
Better linkages with research. This is so because the agencies are involved in transfer of technology and extension work.
•
Better competition among private agencies. May be for products, or for reaching people effectively or for profits.
•
Improved agricultural productivity and Standards of living.
•
Flexible in program implementation and pragmatic in approach, thus catering according to the specific needs of clientele only.
Weaknesses: •
Information becomes excludable in the short term due to differences in speed of information dissemination or medium used (Carney, 1998).
•
More face-to-face contacts (person oriented) and less emphasis on mass media usage, thereby chances of overlooking poor.
•
Increased dependence of farmers and hence exploitation and manipulation of farmers becomes the order of the day. Starting from Sowing to virtually every field operation, farmers shall need some or other assistance.
•
Payments cannot be deferred nor based on impact; since information becomes a private good (Kidd etal, 1997) and extension becomes an economic input.
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•
Contradictory message flows from competing sources due to advertisements and publicity techniques leading to unnecessary confusion. Advertisements tend to be deceptive, rather than informative. E.g.: In areas like Sale of seeds, pesticides, and equipment by different companies.
•
Human resource and organizational development are sidelined for cost generating activities or profits. (Sulaiman and Sadamate, 2000). General education and imparting knowledge to farmers regarding environmental, ecological issues, mobilization of and effective use of resources, and group formation will be totally missing in this process.
Opportunities: •
Support and control by clients leading to client orientation. Since farmers are paying money, they shall have the right to exercise and draw services whichever, they need most (Antholt, 1994).
•
Availability of specialized services to specific clientele groups. E.g.: Soil analysis, marketing information.
•
Employment opportunities opened up due to more requirement of manpower.
•
More export oriented due to more concentration on crops earning valuable foreign exchange.
•
Increased accountability and commitment of Extension Personnel due to job demands and compulsion.
Threats: •
Possible risk of marginalization of small farmers (Haug, 1999). E.g.: Providing erroneous information; adverse selection of beneficiaries; an advent of ‘more pay - more receive ‘ philosophy.
•
Market failure due to spurious multiplication of agencies providing
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products with no emphasis on quality. Obviously, a case of unhealthy competition. E g: Seed companies. •
Social development of the people takes a backstage due to ‘profit motto’ of the actors.
Conclusion: The importance and results of the decisions made with regard to the arrangement of Extension Services shall ultimately play a sheet anchor role in the development of Agriculture and it’s allied disciplines. Options include both private extension for profit and non-profit (Rivera, 1998). The former has the danger of being accompanied by commercialization and marginalization of small and resource poor farmers (Haug, 1999). Hence, the larger interests of the farming community are to be borne in mind before arriving and considering choices.
Reference: Andrew Kidd, John Lamers and Volken Hoffman, 1997. to wards pluralism in Agricultural Extension - a growing challenge to the Public and Private Sectors, Agriculture and rural development 1/98:7-10. Antholt, C. 1994. Modernization of Agricultural Extension in Turkey: Strategic issues, Commercialization and Privatization (Draft). Washington DC: The World Bank. Beynon, J. 1996. financing of Agricultural research and Extension for Small Holder farmers in Sub- Saharan Africa. ODI Natural resource perspectives No.15, November 1996. Carney, D. 1998. changing Public and Private roles in Agricultural service provision. London: Overseas Development Institute.
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Haug, R. 1999. some leading issues in International Agricultural Extension, a literature review. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension, Vol.5.No.4: 263-274. Leonard, D. 1985. The supply of Veterinary Sciences, discussion paper 191. Harvard Institute for International Development, Cambridge. Rivera, W.M. 1998. Global reforms and Agricultural Extension: Trends and the Public sector, paper presented at the conference: Knowledge generation And transfer: Implications for Agriculture in the 21 st century, University Of California, Berkley, June 18-19:23. Sulaiman, R. V. and Sadamate, V.V. 2000. Privatizing Agricultural Extension in India, policy paper 10, NCAP, New Delhi. Umali, D. L and Schwartz, L. 1994. Public and Private Agricultural extension: Beyond traditional frontiers, World Bank discussion papers no.236. World Bank Washington D.C. Wilson, M. 1991. Reducing the costs of public extension services: initiatives in Latin America in Rivera, W. M and D.J Gustafson, Agricultural Extension - Worldwide institutional evolution and forces for change, Elsevier publishers, Amsterdam.
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Private Extension SystemOptions and Issues R.M.Prasad Extension services has been traditionally organized and delivered by the public sector all over the world, which led to a situation wherein, whenever one refers to extension, it denoted public extension service. Similarly, whenever one refers to private sector, there is a tendency to consider only the corporate sector in that category. Private sector also includes the consultancy firms, contracting firms, producers’ associations, non-governmental organizations, media organizations and the like. Thus private extension has a broader canvas including all relevant groups than the narrow canvas of corporate sector. The growing investment needs of the agricultural sector in the present context; especially commercial agriculture and the influence of reform processes in the economic sector have necessitated the need for new initiatives to provide effective extension services for agricultural development. One of the key initiatives attempts to involve private sector in providing extension services to farmers. The new initiatives in extension management designed and developed by the private and voluntary sector had proved to be more successful, which are getting readily accepted by the farmers. Thus, private extension service, as a strategy for providing effective extension support to the farmers is gradually becoming popular among farmers in many countries and India is no exception to this general trend. Privatization of extension services does not aim at substituting private sector for public extension service. It essentially aims at a reduction in the role of public sector to pave way for an enhanced role of private initiatives in the agricultural extension service. As a strategy of privatization, if the public sector Professor and Head, Communication Centre, KAU, Mannuthy, Thrissur - 680 651. Kerala Private Extension in India
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extension has to be restricted, it could be done only in crops and areas where farmers’ associations or producer’s co-operatives exist. There is considerable scope for initiating paid extension services in agriculture for high value crops and resource-rich farmers. However, there are technical, legal and institutional changes that are needed for promoting privatization of extension services. Many public extension organizations have a narrow view of extension wherein they see it as a process of supplying information to farmers on demand and of introducing new technologies in agriculture which they consider to be desirable, rather than the one of promoting farmers’ development and independence. However, with the emergence of many private initiatives, especially consultancy services, the perception had changed a lot. Many young technically qualified professionals have entered into consultancy services and at present, there are quite a large number of firms in the market with the potential to offer their technical expertise and services on payment basis, which the farmers also welcome. Privatization of extension service in India has adopted a variety of forms involving different stakeholders. The major stakeholders and the possible configurations in which they participate are presented in Table1. However, their roles are mutually non-exclusive and complementary. A simultaneous participation of all the private groups is needed for effective extension service. Corporate sector participation covers the involvement of three categories of private groups- input firms, consultancy firms and contracting firms. Most of the agro-input firms perform the function of marketing, in which the marketing personnel also oversee extension related functions. Farmers join together to avail the services of consultants in the case of cash crops like coffee, tea, etc. There are farmers who have come together to have professionals on a retainer ship basis. There are many farmer organizations with facilities for paid consultancy services. With the spurt in agro-exports, many foreign consultants are providing their services to Indian farmers and companies. The various farmers’ associations organize different types of services for themselves, including input supply, credit, technical services and marketing 40
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Table 1: Major stakeholders in private extension service in India Major Sub groups Participation Example stakeholders configuration Private corporate firms
a) Input firms
Information support Sponsorship Cost sharing Training
Indo-American Hybrids Aspee Sandoz
b) Consultancy firms
Project consultancy Technical consultancy Managerial consultancy
Agrotech Good Earth Green valley plantations
c) Contracting firms
Main contracting Sub contracting
ITC CAICO
Farmers’ association
Producers Consumers
Self Help Groups Co-operatives
KHDP IFFCO; RIBHCO
Non-Governmental Organizations
Individual Charitable
Mitranikethan BAIF
Professional
Self Help Groups Neighbour Hood Groups Organized services
Print Electronic
Information support Sponsorship
Karshaka Sree Asianet, Surya
Media organizations
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arrangements- activities that would increase their productivity and time, and at the same time, reducing their dependence on the public sector. Agricultural service is also offered through voluntary organizations, which is presently being encouraged by the public sector to a large extent. There are many NGOs, which can even compete with the public extension system in offering various services for farmers. The role of private media organizations in technology transfer is also commendable. The need to increase food security while at the same time conserving the resource base requires profound changes in the extension approach, which necessitates real farmer participation. It has been proved beyond that the topdown approach which the public extension agencies adopt tend to be much less effective than the participatory, farmer-centered approaches adopted by the private extension agencies. The public extension system views technology
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transfer as a typical delivery mechanism, while the private extension service views it as an acquisition system, wherein the farmers are empowered to take control of their own agenda. The private extension system aims at helping the farmers to own and operate their own extension services. With ownership and responsibility lying with clients, the basis for more demand-driven as against to a supply-driven extension service is established. Food security has at least three dimensions- a) the production of food through crop husbandry, animal husbandry, fish cultivation, etc.; b) the marketing of food so that people have access to food; and c) the entitlement to food. Public extension services mainly focus on the first dimension, while private extension services concentrate on the second dimension, which deals with storage, transport, processing, wholesale and retail activities. The contracting firms also do a lot of services in relation to the second dimension, while NGOs play a vital role in relation to the entitlement of food. The success of an extension service for farmers depends on the effectiveness of planning at four levels- policy, programme, projects and strategy. Policy and programmes should be decided by the public extension system. Projects and strategy can be undertaken by the private extension organizations. When private extension organizations get involved in providing extension support to farmers, there will be competition among the various extension providers, which will take care of at least two elements- a) the need to sub serve consumer welfare and public interest, and b) the need for competitive advocacy and competition culture. As a result of competition, the private extension services become more efficient, especially in the context of liberalization and globalization. Both technical and allocate efficiency, which are basically economic in nature are taken care of by the private extension agencies, resulting in cost minimization, profit maximization and optimal use of resources, which are very much needed in a competitive environment. Public extension service often views development as a zero-sum game. When there is a change, conditions become better for some, and worse for others. Many socially successful public extension activities fit this pattern, which 42
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is a fall out of the “induced” development by the professional change agents in the public extension service. Public extension service is frequently and unbiased involved to protect specific interest groups, with no explanation of how and why the interest of this group transcends all others. Private extension organizations can attempt to bring about changes in all the sections of the society through “spontaneous” development, which will be more sustainable. Public extension service often views sustainability of programmes in terms of continuity. Sustainability is different from continuity. There are two major types of sustainability problems in agriculture. One arises from overuse of inputs in large-scale commercial farming. Some sustainability problems arise from too many inputs, rather than too much input. The other relates to the issue wherein when a change makes conditions better for some, it may result in a worsening of conditions for others. The private extension agencies, especially NGOs and media organizations provide valuable service in ensuring sustainability of programmes for farmers by ensuring conservation of the resource base. The private extension system in India offers the following services for farmers in terms of sharing, augmenting and supplementing the private extension efforts, besides offering unique and innovative initiatives, which the public extension service can emulate. Such services are: 1.
Cost sharing by farmers’ groups
2.
Cost recovery on selected services offered to farmers
3.
Contracting services to private initiatives
4.
Paid extension service for high value crops/favored regions
5.
Value addition of produces by agro-processing firms
6.
Problem solving consultancy services
7.
Privatized service centers for farmers
8.
Self Help Groups of farmers
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9.
Human Resource Development through need based trainings
10. Information support through media organizations The farmers’ associations and various NGOs vary widely in terms of size, operation and technical skills and to that extent the various types of services offered by them vary. Moreover, most of these organizations depend on funds from Government or donors for their activities, which actually affect the performance of the private sector. As private extension system can offer a variety of services for farmers in a competitive environment, which the public extension system cannot, it is suggested that public extension in the long run should limit its role to only educational activities, which are unattractive to private sector delivery. The public sector should undertake only regulatory and enabling roles to foster healthy competition among the various service providers so that the farmers will be greatly benefited.
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Privatisation of ExtensionAn Answer to Rural Poverty C. Satapathy1 and A.K. Mangaraj2 Agriculture Production, living environment of farmer & developmental continuum are very much linked with extension services. Extension Education has been used differently by different authors to indicate line of action as per their understanding & objectives of the organization in which they work. Extension originally meant an action oriented education ensuring good result to the clients which have been diluted over the years. Many authors and scientists have tried to define extension & modify its contents what was not in original conceptualization. Extension being an education is meant to bring about change in knowledge, skill and attitude of the clients. This concept has undergone change owing to globalization of economic liberalization which raise the question of profit & loss without paying adequate attention to social benefit of it. In other words, Extension Education being a process with longer duration to produce result, neither the scientists nor the clients nor even the environment have patience to wait. In the changing scenario of the world when well tested technologies are available and the ensured profit is recommended there is need for privatization of extension to make delivery at doors. The enterprises like seed production, mushroom cultivation, floriculture, vermi compost, off-season vegetable, Broiler farming, dairy & many other are coming up in big way. The clients need immediate information to which present system of extension can hardly meet. To overcome this problem the concept of privatizing extension has been thought off. The cost recovery concept in privatization of extension is not new to the world as it is already in operation in many of the countries 1. Dean of Extension Education, OUAT, Bhubaneswar - 751 003 2. Agriculture Extension Officer, IMAGE, Bhubaneswar, Orissa Private Extension in India
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like USA, Neitherland, China. But in a country like ours the need to think of privatization has disturbed mind of many scientists/extension workers and the farmers in generally. It is not that privatization is not necessary but food security, commercialization, new agriculture policy and gradually development of farmers should not be equated in same scale as situation & environments vary with different magnitude under Indian condition. The extension in 21 st century have to consider privatization of extension, types of extension, total development & farmers specific approach under which our farm families reside and work.
Existing type of extension & need for change In India we have experienced a number of approaches in putting extension into action. Starting from simple informing people (1950’s), now we have come to reaching & teaching people with location and farmer’s specific technology. Different states of India have been adopting different types of extension aiming to help farmers of all categories. Whatever the approach may be the basic philosophy of Govt. remain to improve the condition of farmer emphasizing much open shifting. The age old subsistence agril. To profit oriented & sustainable agriculture. The adoption of methodology & approach to achieve this end has been controversial & put to trial & error method for a quite long time. The concept of Beneur under T&V system although generated interest proficiency & result but latter on when it was reutilized the result did not appear to be significant. The system remains to be static rather than dynamic. The basic philosophy so far has been in Orissa which is one of the under developed state in respect to agriculture in the country is to reach the farmers with a set of new information that could help them to increase their production/ productivity with less emphasis to social needs. It is a matter of common observation that extension machinery of the state use number of methods / media & approach to show the result of new technology, but it is not a fact that these technologies are evaluated in terms of relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, triability & communicability before recommendation. The approach do not stick to the principle of extension education warranted modification 46
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and refinement of the technology what ICAR & SAU institutes are working at present. We can broadly states that Extension education has been converted to extension service in many of the states ignoring the concept of education. This has resulted in three types of extension mainly knowledge driven, input driven & market driven. Out of these three systems knowledge driven is the different one, since it deals with the motivational aspect of human being, which is normally avoided by extension machinery. Application of input driven extension results in lapses in application of technology, resulting pollution & less productivity of technology, once well defined by the scientists. Non-approach to market demand has lead to higher production without demand. This has been observed very well when farmers sell the produce much less than cost of production & even at times do not harvest in order to avoid further loss. The roll of extension systems, its effectiveness & result-oriented performance has been challenged & demands alteration or modification. Much remains to be debated upon farmer’s interest verses policy decisions, staff dissatisfaction & efficiency, conflicting roles & approaches. The operation efficiency and institutional arrangements is in question. The equilibrium of the three approaches, that is knowledge, input & market driven if not taken care of, the loap sided extension would cause more social disturbances than good. It is one of the major considerations while planning for extension services.
Effect of extension approach During post independence period an all out effort was made by the state and national govt. along with the private sectors to take the technology to the door step of farmers. The success of green revolution in India also attributes towards proper recognition of agriculture service. In spite the fact that extension services in agriculture sector has achieved significant objectives still many people who need it most remain beyond the horizon of extension services. These are mostly tribal farmers living in rain fed areas having little resources with no exposure to developmental agencies & mass media. Till this date there
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are some villages in Orissa mostly tribal tracks that have not tested the benefit of technology in their day-to-day living. The disadvantage is that all the times. The remain in shadow area of development. Even with the potentiality of development the tribal people have not yet been motivated to take advantage of the situation. The reason for non-reaching these disadvantages group are many & diversified. These are mainly illiteracy, non exposure to development agency, lack of political will, ill planning of program non assessment of potentiality, lack of infrastructure facilities & absence of social movement. The per capita income & percentage below poverty line almost remain unchanged for a quite long period. While comparing the rain field and irrigated area the civilization, human rights, focus of government political will, generation of income activities remain mostly with irrigated areas, ignoring the basic legitimate demands of the rain fed area. The extension service has not been able to cover women, rural youth and emerging entrepreneurs in the field of activities. While comparing green revolution of a state in between rain fed agriculture and commercial agriculture, the difference in agriculture development is clearly visible. The privatization of extension service should examine these issues before it starts to operate in development or under developed states like Orissa. The percentage of men worker population, percentage of agriculture laborer are 32.8% and 28.7% respectively in Orissa. The female workers participation rate is hardly 20.8%. The infant mortality is as high as 96 for 1000 population. The state is having 33.2% area under irrigation with fertilizer consumption of 29.9 kg. / hec. and with literacy Percentage of 49.1%.With these basic data whether we can think of privatization of extension services in the state remains to be unanswered. In a scale of measurement the effectiveness of existing extension system it appears to be negligible among the SC & ST who constitute about 46% of the total population. The production &productivity level of the state can be well imagined as it contribute only 3.3% of the national food production with 7.2%,2.5%,1.1% & 0.5% in case of rice, pulses, oil seeds and sugarcane respectively which counts towards positive parameters for agriculture development. Extension education is basically designed to improve the knowledge, 48
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skill and attitude of the clients. Several studies have established that knowledge about modern technologies; skill of applying it & attitude for commercialized agriculture of the farmers of Orissa in general is far from satisfactory. The effect of extension services has not been realized in this vital area of extension domain.
Who can afford for private extension service It is a matter of fact that there is a growing need for extension service in our country. In this age of globalize economy competition is found among the producers of agriculture product. This normally requires high technology, which extension services can deliver. In the context of privatization we can analyze the factors like marketability of product, social demand, infrastructure facility, cost: benefit ratio and knowledge about market. In analyzing those variables we can come to the conclusion that few farmers in few selected areas can avail cost recover system of extension services. The commercial crops of Orissa are rice, sugarcane, pulses, off season vegetables, cotton etc. and the farmers of this technology belong to irrigated tracts with higher socio-economic status, formal education, exposure to outside world & cosmo polite nature. These category of population are found within the age group of 28-40 years with education of graduate level & having political base although percentage of this population is yet to be determined. Still their no. Will be negligible. In case of small and marginal farmers residing in rained area with poor resource base and illiteracy whether can afford for private extension programmes like training, on farm trial, demonstration, scientist farmer interaction, Kissan Mela etc. the farmers have to be contacted paid motivated to ensure their participation. Presently our’s is a supply driven rather demand driven extension system. So, Decentralization, Cost recovery/Cost sharing, withdrawal from selected services, and specific approaches of extension has to be considered from the farmer’s acceptance point of view. We have reached at a peculiar situation. The gap between emerging entrepreneurs and common farmers is so large that at one hand few individual Private Extension in India
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need high technology with affordable capacity whereas on the other hand a high proportion of population need incentive, motivation, stimulation to take advantage of free extension service offered by the govt. The line of extension service to cover heterogeneous clients system need deep analysis before we can think of privatizing these essential service to the farmers who count to be as high as 48.6% on poverty line.
Consequences of privatisation of extension service The chain reaction of a social change creates consequences in different direction. It is difficult to have planned change when basic factors are not homogenous. It is presumed that the consequences of privatization of extension service will lead to the following s
Social distance
s
Social conflict
s
Social dis-equllibrium
s
Higher gap between have & haven’t
s
Side lining coming of farmers
s
Selectiveness of technologies for adoption
s
Commercialization with human value.
s
Shortage if essential food grain required at rural village level.
s
With temptation to act as middleman rather than food producers.
The economic prosperity & trend towards export may cause some sensation among the well to do farmers. The far reaching social effect, classification of population, as further parameters creation of assets for limited use developing two sets of technology for high up & low downs may be a point of social dis - equilibrium. On the other hand it is not that the authors don’t desire for commercialization of agriculture, but a systematic planning with specific direction can be developed to bring all the farmers into a fold in their capacity and direct them to climb the ladder of development. 50
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Beneficiaries & Privatisation It may not be out of place to mention that we have resource rich & resource poor farmers with a wide gap in between. After independence we have trained our beneficiaries mostly to receive benefits from Govt. & other agencies. The benefit directed behavior of the mass has been reutilized and it is a matter of common experience that people want benefit, incentives rather than knowledge, skill & techniques. These general trend needs to be changed. We are at a cross road to decide what methodologies and approaches of extension will be able to bring a change in this attitude. Again in a democratic setup like ours political decisions and towards the concept of subsidy it may be difficult to induce the idea of self-help on the basis of resources at their command. The entire concept of privatization need to understand this established idea of the people while framing its design to cover agriculture producers at large.
Extension Officers & Privatisation Generation of technology and its transfer so far remain with extension machinery without much accountability. We take the field many other technologies either by well tested or to be tested without assuming concrete benefit it can deliver. Many of our technologies have not developed on location and farmer situation. Their recommendation and applicability may bring the question of validity for which farmers are supposed to afford. The accountability of the extension machinery to the farmers must be ensured in the light of concept of privatization. As a matter of fact it is not out of place to mention that recommendation of technology if not followed by accountability the poor farmers may land in financial problem. Whatever the technology or accountability may be training in extension, experience, commitment, sincerity and objective directed action could pay much towards success of privatization. These human values are not found abundantly with extension personnel transferring technology at different levels. It is therefore necessary that the privatization of extension services should induce these values in the extension personnel who will work and deal with privatization of extension services at breadth & length. Private Extension in India
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Privatisation of extension serivces: Practicability Till date mostly the extension systems are traditionally funded, Used and delivered by public sector. Thinking of privatizing it whether it needs to be wholly funded & delivered by Private agencies as partly (in proportions) whether it will be a combination of public, private and volunteering, Or a match of any two. How can the clients be assured of the service and its accountability? NGO’s vary widely in terms of size, operational area and skill. Mostly they depend upon the donor/Govt. sponsors and inclined to achieve the need & interest of these stakeholders. If at all - they focus upon a special sector of the society. Over and above all is it only extension we aim at or it is the overall agricultural development. If the later is more appropriate then comes whether it is input/Extension/Training. Extension-which are to be focused, planned Training-modified, dovetailed so when, where & How. Inputs-demand, supply, subsidy-management.
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Privatizing Fisheries ExtensionPolicy Implications H.K.De and B.B.Sahu
Macro-economic policies are now geared towards growth of market force and private organization. In particular, there is liberalization of R & D regulation, liberalization of germplasm import, acquiring the new production technologies, feed formulation, introducing exotic fish species, and health management packages. All these measures have paid dividends in terms of growth of private investments in aquaculture sector, and are expected to further consolidate in the years to come. Strengthening of national fisheries research and extension activities involves diversification of institutional and funding base. The diversification of fisheries sector includes broadly the fresh water; brackish water and marine capture and culture activities. The diversification process is governed by factors such as technological opportunities, farmers’ response to technologies, incentives and research and development (R&D) policies. All these factors are quite conducive for this development. There has been a strong growth of private sector (for profit and non-profit) in the provision of the both R&D and transfer of technologies. However, both public and private sector largely grew in isolation and interface between them was confined to open access of private sector to public research materials like germplasm, feed materials, production technology and disease control etc. A strong interface between the private and public sector on technology transfer is the need of the hour.
Changing Environment: Indian aquaculture has shown considerable dynamism in the recent past. Fish production in the country has shown phenomenal increase during Seventh Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Kausalyaganga, Bhubaneswar 751 002 Private Extension in India
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and Eighth Plan form 2.94 m.t. in 1986-87 to 5.56 m.t.in 1998-99 an average annual growth rate of about 7.5%. The contribution fishery sector to the net domestic product has shown an eight fold increase from Rs. 8.06 billion in 1980-8 1 to Rs. 67.5 billion in 1993-94 in comparison to only four fold increase in agriculture as a whole during the same period. Fish farmers are more receptive to new technologies and respond to price incentives. There is significant shift towards high value aqua-products like prawns, crabs and a host of value added aquaculture food products. All these point to shifting of the aquaculture sector from subsistence to commercial one. This shift has strong implication for technology development, training and dissemination systems. There will be great demand for technologies and farmers will be proactive in technology evaluation and adoption, as technologies are becoming capital and knowledge intensive. Evidence of the prawn farmers of the coastal belt and carp producers of A.P, W.B. and Orissa indicate that a section of market-oriented farmers will be willing to pay for quality and reliable services. This means that private sector (for profit) has strong incentive in catering to needs of these marketoriented farmers. Therefore, there is a tremendous scope for the private extension programme, which will benefit the farmers. The specific area could be quality fish seeds, disease prevention and prophylactic measures, intensive culture with mechanization, post - harvest processing and quality control, ornamental fish culture etc.
Functional Realities of Extension System The public sector extension system Public institutions are governed by financial and administrative rules of the government, as they are dependent on government funds. The transaction cost of bureaucratic regulation is very high. Efforts are underway to reduce the transaction cost by decentralizing the systems. But nothing serious is done to improve the efficiency of public organizations like research and extension systems. These are still in public domain. There is a need to make this organization more autonomous and decentralized for greater efficiency. Zijp,
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Ornamental fish culture - a money-spinner It is reported that the turn over in the world annual ornamental fish trade had reached US$4.5 billion in 1995 with an annual growth rate of over 8 percent (Devaraj, 2000). Freshwater species of ornamental fishes are easy to maintain in house, office and commercial places. The scope for their expansion is growing day by day. It is no longer concentrated in metro cities but also spread in small district towns. Mr. Kirubakaran is one such successful fanner in Madurai district of T.N. He maintains 350 exotic and indigenous sp. of ornamental fishes. He has 35 kinds of Japanese Koi, which are normally bred in Japan, China and U.K. He is blending various attractive colours in fishes by cross breeding them. Of the 36 varieties of gold fish available in the world market he says that he has 24 of them. Ornamental fish export is a highly lucrative sector. Singapore earns about Rs. 2000 crore annually from this sector. The following statistics gives a birds eye view about the present status of aquarium industiy in India (Elamparithy, 1999): Aquarium fish shops (Large) around 200 Aquarium fish shops (Small) around 2500 Regular large fish farms 10 Full time breeders and growers 500 Part time breeders and growers 10,000 Accessories exporters 5 Fish exporters 15 Hobbists 10,00,000 Rivera and Artholt (1996) suggest decentralization of management of programmes through farmer participatory involvement in decision-making and ultimately taking responsibility for extension programmes. Participatory involvement in considered making services more responsive to local conditions.
The private sector extension systems Private organization has more flexible functional structure. Their focus is on development of usable technologies and there are strong linkages between Private Extension in India
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technology development and dissemination. In most of the cases, research, commercial production and marketing are vertically integrated. Usually, there is a tie up between research organization and marketing firms. Under these organizational structures there is tendency to quickly respond to client’s needs, Production of proprietary materials and appropriation of research benefits largely govern the strategic response of private organization to changing market force.
Scope of public - private extension programmes Aquaculture farms intend to reduce transaction cost, which is affected by technological factors, economy of scale and scope and asset specificity. If cost of market transaction is high, firms usually integrate vertically. The case for vertical integration is strong if asset specificity is low. In case of aquaculture research, transaction cost of acquiring technology is high and therefore, firms having adequate resources integrate vertically through undertaking research. They have their own extension system for dissemination of the technology. Some firms enter into contract with other research organizations for supply of technologies and have their collaboration system for commercialization of
Aqua-business through private research and extension Aquatic animals provide a high protein food, which is affordable to all classes of consumers. India is blessed with a long tropical coastline and vast fresh water resources for intensive aquaculture. Number of firms dealing with feed manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, fish processing etc. have come up in recent years. In quest for achieving production efficiency and also for adherence to quality standards the corporate sector has devised their own mechanisms. This includes providing technical information to farmers/producers, supplying production inputs, imparting training and buy back arrangements etc. Firms viz., Tata, Lipton, Avanti, Hindustan Lever, Water base. ITC etc. are successfully operating aqua-business. Few multinational corporations e.g., C P Aquaculture, Higashimaru, Higashi etc.have also started their business in India. Most of the firms have well knit network of R&D, extension and marketing.
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the technology. But presently with liberalization of import export policy, liberalized R & D policy some aquaculture firms particularly dealing with feed manufacturing, germplasm import, management of aquatic animal health, fish processing, value addition and quality control tie up with transnational companies as research information is no longer a public good. The possible forms of extension / transfer of technologies linkages and factors governing them are discussed below.
Consultative: The commercialization of public extension services i.e., the change from providing a free public service financed by Government to a commercial operation financed by user charges, is a strategy that has gained increasing attention in recent years. Consultative extension linkages are short -term in nature but they are extremely effective. The individual or the company providing the technology is consulted for providing the extension/transfer of technology package for establishing the in house demonstration or conducting on farm trial Scientific! Technological credibility and mutuality help to establish such linkage.
Contractual: These transfer of technology linkages are expected to be stronger in the era of intellectual property growth. The private farms or franchisee may enter into contract with public research services for availing technological solution. Here funding is done by the private farm and they have property right of the research out put. The demonstration and on farm trial is carried out on the clients’ field for necessary fine-tuning. The contract is for development of technology; training of manpower, finding an appropriate technological solution It could also be dissemination of technologies in wider scale by private agencies with public funding. Extension services tend to be sold with few exceptions to users at a nationally determined price, however, in some cases highly individualized Private Extension in India
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projects command higher prices and projects for low income users are offered at reduced prices (OECD, 1992: 17).
Collaborative: This technology transfer is done under agreed terms of funding and sharing of research benefits and extension responsibilities. The success of collaborative programme is determined by operational mechanism, timely research and building mutual confidence. Through these programmes the private firms reduce transaction cost and the public sector will be able to commercialize technologies developed through collaborative programmes. The role of the public sector has to be redefined to permit multiple approaches, which account for user diversity and to develop partnerships with farmer organizations, NGOs and the private sector for service delivery (World Bank, 1995). Involvement of fishermen in fishery resource management leads to more efficiency. Participatory decision-making in extension has been shown to increase commitment to the programmes associated with extension systems. This form of fisheries extension would ensure •
Delivery of appropriate technology to farmers
•
Commitment to share cost on the part of farmers
•
Greater use of local expertise
•
Improved information flow
Conclusion: It is unlikely that the private sector will cater to needs of small-scale fish farmers operating under various constraints. Private sector extension will focus their attention on high value species; value added products and exportable food fishes. Education component will be less cared for by the private extension service. It is argued that public sector extension should continue to serve the small-scale fish farmers and with draw their operation from the areas where fish farming is being carried out on a commercial scale. This group of clients 58
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could be asked to pay for the services they receive. By doing so public extension mechanism can redeploys their efforts for the development of fisheries in the areas where vast resources remains to be utilized. While it is difficult to predict what governments will do in the future as regards public sector extension services, it may be hypothesized that mixed systems public and private sector extension system will continue to operate. Many countries maintain other parastatal extension services such as commodity boards for export products. Farmer’s co-operatives and other types of farmer associations also provide extension to specific commodity or member target groups. A mix or complex of extension systems is likely to be the norm (Rivera, 1996).
References: Devaraj, K.V. 2000. Ornamental fish culture - a potential money-spinner. Paper presented at the Fifth Indian Fisheries Forum held at Central Institute of Freshwater Aquaculture, Bhubaneswar 17-21, 2000 Elamparithy, B. 1999. Prospects and problems in ornamental fish culture in India.Paper presented in the National Seminar on Development and Transfer of Fisheries Technology, held at Fisheries College and Research Institute, Thoothukkudi, T.N.3-5 Feb. Rivera, W. M. 1996. Privatization of Agricultural Extension: A review of current extension policy reform strategies N R.K.Samanta and S.K.Arora (ed) Management of Agricultural Extension in Global Perspectives. B.R. Pub. Corpn Delhi The World Bank. 1995. Social indicators of development. Baltimore MD & London : The Johns Hopkins Press for the World Bank Zijp, W., Rivera, W.M. and Artholt, C. 1996. Decentralizing Agricultural Extension IN Binswanger, H. (Ed) Decentralization of Fiscal Systems and Rural Development. Washington DC. The World Bank Private Extension in India
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Privatization of Agricultural Extension R. Saravanan
The approaches in agricultural extension to transfer the farm technology, has undergone spectacular changes over the years. These changes have taken place structurally and functionally across the globe. Many countries are now in the process of modifying the existing public extension system, so as to meet the current challenges.
Concept of Private Extension Bloome (1993) indicated that, private extension involves personnel in the private sector that delivers advisory services in the area of agriculture and is seen as an alternative to public extension. Whereas, Van den Ban and Hawkins (1996) stated that, farmers are expected to share the responsibility for this service and pay all or part of the cost. Saravanan and Shivalinge Gowda (1999) operationalized Privatization in the following manner, “Privatization of agricultural extension service refers to the services rendered in the area of agriculture and allied aspects by extension personnel working in private agencies or organizations for which farmers are expected to pay a fee (or free) and it can be viewed as supplementary or alternative to public extension services”. These concepts about the privatization emphasizes three aspects, they are •
It involves extension personnel from private agency/ organization
Ph.D. Scholar, Department of Agricultural Extension, UAS, GKVK, Bangalore-560065. 60
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•
Clients are expected to pay the service fee (private extension may not expect fee from clients.eg.NGOs)
•
Act as supplementary or alternative to public extension service
Reasons Behind the Privatization Issue Financial Burden on Government First and foremost reason behind the privatization is deckling trend in government expenditure for extension in several countries over the last decade. Financial burden of governments have forced to make sharp reduction in the budget of public extension programmes (Howwell, 1985; Antholt, 1994; Sulaiman & Gadewar, 1994; Dinar, 1996; Vanden Ban & Hawkins, 1996).
Disappointing Performance of Public Extension Service Impact of public extension system in agricultural development is generally disappointing, ineffective extension work, transfer of technologies are not economically viable, not matching with farmers needs, little consideration for cost-effectiveness, less competent extension personnel with no accountability to farmers, bureaucratic nature and target oriented programmes mostly imposed on farmers (Ameur, 1994 and Hansra and Adhiguru, 1998). Moreover, public extension alone will never answer the entire demand of farming community (Rivera and Gustatson, 1991).
Commercialization of Agriculture In recent past most of the developing countries including Indian agriculture are shifting from mere subsistence level to commercialized agribusiness (Sulaiman and Gadewar, 1994). Above all, challenges and opportunities of globalization & liberalization era demand effective alternative extension approach. Growing commercial and specialized nature of agriculture will demand quick and technically sound advice, based on scientific analysis with appropriate marketing information. Existing public extension system is not capable of meeting these challenges (Hassanullah, 1999). Private Extension in India
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Assumptions Behind Private Extension •
Extension generates new income, extension become economic input.
•
Provides Demand-Driven Service
•
Increases the voice of farmers in the extension service
•
Extension service become more cost effective with efficient and quality service
•
Privatization complement or supplement the efforts of public extension
•
Extension personnel become more client accountable
•
Private extension increases staff professionalism
•
Clients (farmers) are more committed to the service
•
Private extension not suitable to small and marginal farmers
•
Private extension concentrates big and progressive farmers and areas having favorable environment
•
Private extension is less education oriented and more commercial in nature
•
Private extension don’t concentrate on food grain production
•
Private extension restricts flow of information
•
Less contact between extension worker and farmer
In recent past, many private extension agencies, NGOs are entering in the agricultural sector to influence different categories of farmers. This existing climate will change the elements of extension process such as; objectives, target group, offerings, organization, methods (Roling, 1982) and also redefines the roles of public and private extension system.
Expected Elements in the Private Extension System Objectives Target group
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• • • • • •
Profit maximization Efficiency Only those who can pay (commercial, big farmers) More committed Highly careful Active participation MANAGE
Offerings Technologies
Input supply Organization
Extension personnel Funding Extension service Methods
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Location specific Demand driven Profitable Timely Private consultancy Commercial, agro-based firms Input agencies Farmer’s organizations etc. Accountable to farmers Highly motivated High professionalism Clients contribution Development agencies Advisory in nature Economic input, generates new income Personal communication Low with group and mass communication Participatory approach
Objectives Prime objective of private extension mainly concern with maximum possible profit to the clients through advisory services. Because their remuneration obviously linked with increased income of the farmers. Private agencies survival depends upon nature of their performance, so, they try to become more efficient and effective in providing services.
Target group Private extension mostly concentrates on big farmers, farmers growing commercial crops, areas having favorable environment like high fertile soil, irrigated area. They will not be interested in investing small, marginal and resource poor farmers, because private agencies are more concerned about Private Extension in India
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their profits. Farmers of rain fed area, farmers with less per capita income in subsistence agriculture may not allow them to pay for the extension service.
Clients In private extension system, clients are more committed and careful about extension services, because they are paying for the service. Clients make best use of private extension workers time.
Offerings Profit oriented services include not only technology transfer and also input supply. Offerings are based on seasonal needs and convenience of the farmers.
Technologies Private extension agency transfers the location specific and demand-driven technologies. Technologies become specialized and profitable. Private extension ensures timely input supply.
Organizations Private organizations such as, agricultural consultancy, commercial firms, agro-based industries, input agencies organizations etc., will enter in the area of extension service.
Extension personnel Private extension personnel become more accountable to clients and highly motivated because they are getting remuneration from their clients. They become professionally sound and will put efforts to upgrade their knowledge and technical know-how.
Funding Private extension service gets funds from farmer’s contribution and developmental agencies. 64
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Extension service Advisory nature of service, extension becomes purchased input and it generates new income to farmers.
Methods Private consultancy mostly employees personal contact methods, because group approach will reduce their chances of getting consultancy fee.
Role of Public and Private Extension System Emergence of private extension system demands redefining the role of public extension system and private extension also assumes certain specific roles. Private extension will concentrate the commercial resourceful big farmers, favorable environment areas such as irrigated, high fertile soil and commercial crop growing areas. Private extension will perform mostly on “ Profit maximization roles.” This situation makes public extension to concentrate on Socio-economic transformation of rural area with more educational oriented roles, concentrating small, marginal farmers and other weaker section of the rural area. So, public extension will concentrates on a “developmental roles.”
Role of Public Extension •
Technology transfer for Socio-economic transformation of rural area
•
Safe guarding national food grain production.
•
Concentrating on environmental issues *
Sustainable agriculture
*
Soil and water conservation measures
•
Emphasizing integrated nutrient and pest management
•
Human resources development in agriculture
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*
Gender issues i.
Empowerment of farmwomen
ii.
Training programmes for women
iii. TOT for women cultivators *
Training for present and prospective farmers
•
Providing advice for off-season employment to rural poor farmers
•
Coordinating efforts of different developmental departments for rural development.
Role of Private Extension •
Farm advisory services for profit maximization of clients
•
Timely inputs supply for better production
•
Providing market information and market intelligence
•
Processing the clients produce
•
Marketing the clients produce
•
Providing credit facilities for farmers
•
Providing infrastructure facilities e.g.: transport, storage (Saravanan and Resmy, 2000)
Privatization of extension demands changes in agricultural research and teaching.
Required Changes in Agricultural Research •
Technologies should be generated based on target group need assessment.
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Farmers will be involved in technology generation.
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Demand-driven, location specific technologies generated.
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•
Collaboration between public and private research system will be established.
•
Encouragement of patent rights
Required Changes in Agricultural Teaching Agricultural teaching should be modified based on current needs of farming community. Imparting education become more competent and commercial oriented. •
Imparting recent scientific advances.
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Providing market research and market intelligence related education.
•
Enhancing demonstration skills.
•
Making competent enough to take up private agri-clinics.
•
Providing rich rural and farming experience.
•
Providing practical experience in the agro-based industries and commercial agri-firms.
•
Inculcating competence to professionally manage the agricultural input agencies.
•
Competence in management of information systems
Strategies for privatizing extension • Commercialization of extension ser vices Complex, demand driven technologies in the public extension system should be provided for particular cost. • Introducing “Contract Extension System” Public extension system can make contract with registered private agricultural consultancy agencies to transfer the agricultural technology. Private Extension in India
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• Introducing Share Cropping System Private/Public extension agents are provided with remuneration in the form of share crop. It will increase the extension personnel’s accountability and commitment to the service. • Giving partnership rights and more responsibility to private sector and NGOs. Private sector and NGOs are entering in a big way in recent years to provide agricultural consultancy. They may be given more responsibility in agricultural technology transfer. • Gradual withdrawal of public extension system Gradual withdrawal can be done in two ways: Area wise and or Commodity wise. Areas having favorable environment like high soil fertility, high irrigation potential, satisfactory infrastructure facilities and commercial crop growing areas. Commodities which provide high profit to farmers in such cases extension service responsibility can be given to private sector. •
Creating and strengthening farmers groups and co-operatives
Through farmer groups, co-operatives, extension agents are appointed and cost will be shared by members. For this purpose existing village- co-operatives, clubs, mahila mandals and water management committees are used (Saravanan and Shivalinge Gowda, 2000a).
Conclusion Recent developments such as, financial constraint of government, disappointing performance of public extension system and commercialization of agriculture will make privatization of agricultural extension service become unavoidable. Good decisions can be made by weighing the assumptions of privatization.
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Intervention of private extension along with public extension service will increase the efficiency of agricultural production system. Private extension will make extension service become more decentralized, farmer participatory, flexible and provides ownership rights to clients. Co-existence of public and private extension in new millennium provides appropriate extension approach and to make Indian farming in the 21st century become more efficient and effective, it is essential to introduce the changes in agricultural research and teaching and also intervention of private extension along with public extension for overall development of the country.
References Ameur, C., 1994, Agricultural Extension : A step beyond the next step. World bank Technical paper, No:247, The World Bank, Washington DC., USA. Antholt, C.H., 1994a, Getting ready for the twenty-first century - technical change and institutional modernization in agriculture. World Bank Technical Paper, No.217, World Bank Publication, Washington DC. Baxter, M., 1987, Emerging priorities for developing countries in agricultural extension. In: Rivera, W.R. and Schram, S.G. (eds.) Agricultural Extension Worldwide: Issues, Practices and Emerging Priorities, Croom Helm, New York. Bloome, P., 1993, Privatisation lessons for US extension from New Zealand and Tasmania. Journal of Extension, Spring, 1993. Dinar, A., 1996, Extension Commercialisation: How much to charge for Extension services. American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 78(1): 1-12. Hansra, B.S. and Adhiguru, P., 1998, Agriculture transfer of technology approaches since Independence in India. Journal of Extension, 9(4). Hassanullah, 1999. Agricultural extension service of the 21 st century – needs and challenges. Presented in the Regional Symposium of Agricultural Extension Education, Mymensingh, 18-21, April, 1999, Bangladesh. Private Extension in India
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Howell, J., 1985, Recurrent Costs and Agricultural Development. Overseas Development Institute, London. Keynan, G., Manuel Olin and Ariel Dinar, 1997, Co-financed public extension in Nicaragua. The World Bank Research Observer, 12(2): 225-247. Matanmi, B.M. and Ladele, A.A., 1996, Participation of private organisations in agricultural development: Lessons from the extension type activities of the Alimontos Congelados Mantebello. Journal of Rural Development and Administration, 28(2): 39-50. Rivera, W.M. and Gustafson, D.J., 1991, (eds.) Agricultural Extension : Worldwide Institutional Evoluation and Forces for Change. Amsterdam: Elsevier. Roling, N., 1982, Alternative approaches in extension. In (eds.) Jones, G.E. and Rolls, M.J. (1982) Progress in Rural Extension and Community Development, Vol.I, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Saravanan, R. 1999, A study on privatization of agricultural extension service. M.Sc. (Ag. Extension) thesis (unpublished), Department of Agriculture Extension, UAS, Bangalore. Saravanan, R. 1999, Status and prospectus of privatization of agricultural extension service. Seminar Report, UAS, Bangalore. Saravanan, R. and Resmy, C., 2000, Role of public and private extension in the new millennium. Presented at National Seminar on Private Extension: Approaches and Challenges in the Millennium. July 28-29, 2000. MANAGE, Hyderabad. Saravanan, R. and Shivalinge Gowda, N.S., 1999, Development of scale to measure attitude towards privatization of agricultural extension service. Tropical Agricultural Research, Vol.11, pp.190-198, PGIA, Sri Lanka. Saravanan, R. and Shivalinge Gowda, N.S., 2000, Client accountable extension - a strategy of social change for next millenium presented at National 70
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Symposium on Social Transformation in Rural Sector. Feb.1-3, 2000. Palli Siksha Bhavana, Visva-Bharathi, Shanktiniketan. Saravanan, R. and Shivalinge Gowda, N.S., 2000a, Strategies for privatizing agricultural extension in India. Presented at National Seminar on Private Extension : Approaches and Challenges in the Millennium. July 28-29, 2000. MANAGE, Hyderabad. Schwartz, L., 1994, The role of the Private Sector in Agricultural extension, Economic Analysis and case studies. Agricultural Research and Extension Network, Paper No.48, Overseas Development Institute, London. Sulaiman, R.V. and Gadewar, A.U., 1994, Privatising farm extension - Some issues. Internal workshop on “Alternative and cost effective approaches for sustainable agricultural: Methodological issues”. Proceedings and Selected Theme Papers, organised by Ford Foundation, FAO and TNAU, Coimbatore, (Sept 14-17, 1994), pp.56-60. Umali, D.L. and Schwartz, L., 1994, Public and private agricultural extension: Beyond traditional frontiers. World Bank Discussion Paper, No. 236, Washington D.C. Van Den Ban, A.W. and Hawkins, 1996, Agricultural Extension, Blackwell Science Ltd Pub., Oxford, pp.256-258. Veerabhadraiah, V., Zerfu, E. and Fami, H., 1999. New professionalism in the privatised extension system, presented in the Regional Symposium of Agricultural Extension Education, Mymensingh, 18-21, April, 1999, Bangladesh.
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Models for Private and Public Extension Cooperation G. Perumal
The term agricultural extension can mean different things to different people with different situations. Extension may be described as the process of assisting farmers to become aware of, and adopt improved techniques, from any source to increase their production efficiency, income, in other words allround development of life situation. It is easy to say and define but there lies the complexity of the process that involves changing farmer behavior and most often, institutional behavior. Paramount amongst these is the principle that extension recommendations must be relevant to the conditions of the client, regardless of the extension method used. This in turn, necessitates that extension must understand the characteristics of the targeted farming systems and the factors which impinge on these systems and must be underpinned by an effective technology generation / adaptation capacity. Although in many countries there is a large proportion of small holders near subsistence production levels, rapidly changing economic, trade and sectoral conditions will impact on the type of extension services that will be needed and the respective roles of private and public sector technical assistance will have to adjust to these demands. Public sector extension and Private sector firms all have an important role to play in technology transfer. In the agricultural development process, technology gradually changes from being a largely “public good” to becoming an increasingly “private good”. In the case of improved technology for widely grown food crops, most improved technology is a “public good”. A publicly supported Former Director of Extension, Tamil Naidu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 641 003. 72
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extension system is essential to improved agricultural productivity, increased food out put and enhanced national food security. In addition only publicly supported extension system will deal with environmental concerns and the resource conservation practices associated with sustainable agriculture. In recent years not only in India but also in many countries the government extension services are heavily criticized. The major criticisms are; expensive, hierarchical, not serving to the interest of the farmers, environmental issues, more sustainable production methods, conflicting role (information, education, advise and administration), subsidy issues, take away the working time, many farmers left, non-accountability to clients and so on. This situation calls for fresh look at the role of agricultural extension in agriculture and allied activities taking into account the Policies (past, present and future); Strategies (action models); and Resources (avoid external) required to ensure its full contributions for sustainable all-round development of a farm, home and environment. A major question is how to complement government resources from other sources. We have to accept that resources available for extension will always be limited in relation to the vast number and varying needs of the farmers. In order to complement these issues it is suggested that the possibility for assistance from non-governmental entities, farmers associations, co-operatives, private firms and other rural organizations. Further, what roles can SAUS and ICAR institutes play effectively? What type of approaches can suit to involve the manufacturers, distributors of inputs, food processors, private advisory firms and individuals can assist with extension? Could a two-tier extension system be visualized, with better-off farmers paying commercial firms for advice while government, SAUS and ICAR institutes serve the needs of small-scale and marginal farmers? Now arises a major question that how can the diverse activities be coordinated and monitored to ensure availability of extension advise to all the farmers? Perhaps that the major, challenge for extension system in coming years may be how to serve the rural majority, the poorly educated (even after, 50 years of our Independence) subsistence farmers, the landless Private Extension in India
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producers and the women and young farmers (What steps that extension can do to prepare, assist, train and motivate young men and women to take farming as their sole vocation?) who have been so far neglected by extension and other services. With this background a few reform models have been developed taking into consideration of the past and present situation involving both public sector extension and also other organizations that are directly participating in the development of agriculture and other allied activities in rural India. We are aware that agricultural extension in India has a different history and different organizational set up in each state. They provide us a wide range of knowledge from which we have learned very rewarding experiences in the past. Therefore, this paper explores the diversity inherent in the agricultural extension sector of India and try to suggest a few reform models of extension and also examines the ways in which they are applicable to the different situations and environment in coming years.
1. Government Efforts: Integrated Extension through Satellite Farm Approach (SAF) At state level number of subject-based / function-based organizations are operating (Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry etc.,). Even to day the government has been the main extension service provider irrespective of the farm size, farmer’s socioeconomic level etc., the main objective here is to improve the food productivity of the state. In other words, increasing the overall efficiency of the farming operation focusing mainly on food grain production. In order to ensure efficiency in farming and all other allied activities the government must formulate / develop and incorporate the required policy and legislation in this regard. In other words what the government expect from extension to contribute to agriculture and allied enterprises. Is it enough that technology transfer is meant to achieve only increased production and income? Should the extension programme also concentrate the management of total family resources in the pursuit of maximum income? Is it the only responsibility 74
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of the public extension system that should serve the land less producers and the marginal farmers by promoting agriculturally related rural activities and enterprises? Most importantly what will be the future strategy by the State Development Departments (SDD) to create lively hood diversification activities and its policy (poverty, farm productivity, natural resource management and gender relation). We can ask many more questions like this and I am sure that these issues are no doubt familiar to all of us. But, what remedies or what type of model organizations we can propose to achieve with appropriate structural and functional type arrangements to harness the benefit of the public and private extension system to improve the rural farming community irrespective of the farm, home and environmental situations. It is very painful to note that even to day the SDA is operating / functioning as separate identity without knowing what the other functionaries are doing in the same farm vice versa. Further, it is also note worthy to point out that the different organizational forms of extension provision in India is the level of complementary between the wide range of suppliers/manufacturers, processors (mostly private) NGOs and other supporting agencies. This allow for a variety of possibilities for integrating the various sectors (other functionaries from various departments) NGOs, farmers groups and associations. This model suggests the various means to integrate through SFA. The SFA is to be identified jointly by the extension functionaries of all the development departments to work together on the farm. Such identified farm should have a particular combination of successful enterprises adopted / followed based on the wisdom and experience of the farmer concerned. The team of extension workers from various development departments working at the grass root level along with a group of neighboring farmers have to then study jointly the existing enterprises and make recommendations for further improvement in the productivity of each of the enterprises in a complementary manner. In addition, they need to analyze the potentiality of that farm to go for additional enterprise(s), if any, keeping into consideration the resources available in the farm, home and environment. Subsequently, the farmer is motivated to adopt the identified additional enterprise(s) and develop his farm into a comprehensive “Satellite Model Farm”. The
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mechanism for such integration and also the definition of SFA are detailed below. ‘Satellite Farm’ is of any size diversified and developed over a period of time with a combination of compatible, feasible, profitable and ecofriendly agri related enterprises by the farmers themselves blending their experience and wisdom with appropriate technologies developed by the research systems and disseminated by development departments, NGOs and other supporting agencies and serving as a training ground in which the farmers, extension functionaries and researchers see themselves in a co-learning relationship and work together for achieving not only sustainability in farming but the overall human development as well. The mechanism for integrating the extension approach at grass root level are as follows: * Integrating Experience and Expertise There is a greater scope for sharing and consolidating the varied experiences and expertise of the farmers, extension workers and scientists. * Integrating ‘schemes and resources’ of development department, NGOs and supporting agencies Involvement of various development departments, NGOs and supporting agencies to channelize the resources, incentives and other benefits of multi departmental schemes in a complimentary manner avoiding duplication and sporadic use. * Integrating the ‘enterprises’ This approach enables the extension workers of various development departments and the farmers to discuss together and decide on the most appropriate and profitable combination of two or more enterprises in accordance with the needs, priorities, resources and agro-climatic conditions of the area. 76
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* Integrating ‘training contents of varied subject matter areas’ It helps to increase the competency of extension workers to perform the ‘whole-role’ of disseminating integrated land use technologies and to acquire the skill to study any farm in a holistic perspective rather than making recommendations on crops alone without considering the fitness of other enterprises. This approach also recommends the integrated extension training imparting the functional knowledge and skills on allied enterprises to enable the extension workers to perform the ‘whole role’ of disseminating agri-related technologies. * Integrating the ‘farm and environment’ Motivating the farmers to adopt compatible and ecofriendly enterprises leads to effective recycling of available internal resources without depending much upon external resources ensuring effective bio-resources flow within the farm which is bound to conserve soil, moisture and environment. * Integrating ‘agro based industries and marketing’ The concept of identifying the key enterprise for a given in Block Level Planning (BLP) meetings and making planned efforts to promote its large scale adoption through satellite model farm approach would pave way for the establishment of agro based industries on cooperative basis in the long run which can be integrated with the more profitable network for marketing value added products. * Integrating ‘cost effectiveness with accountability and quality extension work’ Implementation of the Satellite Model Farm Approach in mind and spirit with effective use of all available human, financial and natural resources along with the infrastructure facilities of the research, extension and client systems would result in cost effective quality extension work.
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It is hoped that the suggested satellite model farm concept would help in avoiding the stereotype way of disseminating only crop technologies year after year, season after season and month after month. At the same time, it is essential to remember that the satellite farmer should not be mistaken as the ‘contact farmer’ envisaged under T&V system because the main objective of this approach is just to make a beginning for developing one satellite model farm in each segment which later would serve as a ‘Mother Farm’ for other nearby farms also to become satellite model farms in due course. Moreover, the personal experience of the satellite farmer and the existing conditions of the satellite model farm are fully utilized by the extension workers of the development departments in a coordinated manner for providing ‘experiential learning’ to other farmers through target group discussions so as to motivate them for restoring to farming system technology by utilizing the available resources to maximum extent possible. In brief, the satellite model farm as a whole would serve, as a demonstration farm with no cost to provide continuous experiential learning to other farmers and this approach would pave way for cost effective with accountability and quality extension work. The successful implementation of SMFA would certainly make the extension service more of ‘demand-driven’ in nature in this Century when there is a thinking for a possibility for even ‘farmer paid’ extension service. Since we are in the process of making new decisions, instituting new programmes and adapting to change conditions, let us think, synthesize and work together towards this challenging endeavor. It is always true that; today’s dream becomes tomorrow’s reality.
2. Government, Private Firms and Individual Efforts: Commercial Extension This model suggest to recognize private commercial firms rather than completely depending upon the State Agricultural Office (SAO) for the provision of extension to farmers. Here the private extension experts can offer their services either as individuals, in partnership with other advisers or as a 78
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company (now it is being followed in pesticide companies). It is to be noted that each extension agent and firm must register officially with the state. The SAO is expected to assist / guide / regulate / operate its various policies through these agencies. This model helps the farmers to seek advice by directly approaching the firm by paying the nominal cost (client-driven demand). Here farmers pay fees for advice depending up on the duration and nature of advice. In this model it is emphasized that the extension advisers and firms are more accountable to their clients and ensure greater quality control. Many research studies have found that client satisfaction is mainly dependent on the quality of the advice given and the attitude of the adviser to the client. Since, a farmer is free to obtain advice from any registered adviser, the competition that exists among advisers enhances the quality of service (as exist with medical profession) provision and heightens the level of accountability of the adviser to the client.
3. Government, Private and Farmers Efforts : Farmers Association (Group Extension) We are aware that general advisory services for the whole farm enterprises are less common that many farmers with similar farming enterprises or similar problem groups together form an association to solve their common problems (Fruits and vegetable growers association). Public and Private extension support either directly or indirectly helps the association in planning and executing the various activities of the association. These associations can employ one or more extension agents. These agents can be of useful to the farmers by solving several problems of the members. The associations are normally registered as per state government rule and usually the officer bearers are elected for a term. The association can contract the extension advisors for a specified period / permanently. Members sometimes will be between 100 – 1000. The membership fees are based on the size of the land holdings or number of animals / birds or they can pay a fixed Private Extension in India
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membership fee regardless of the size of the enterprise. The members can also be grouped according to their needs for example extension service can be focused on the whole farm enterprises – Satellite Farm Model another type may be on the production system – may be a specified crop or Hi-Tech crop. In this model, it is suggested that the specialists are not employed by the SAO but is employed by the members of the group. Therefore, there is absolutely no role conflict that is being faced by the SAO. Furthermore, that the adviser will be accountable to the members.
Further needs So far, though we had many approaches of extension advise in the past the level of client control over extension has not been achieved till to day. Therefore, the three models described in this paper provide more scope for increased efficiency and quality extension for many farmers. These models are also provide farmers control extension and improve the farmers controlled group extension, while advocating this type of models special attention must be given to make sure that poorer farmers are not further neglected in the process. The above models are not new altogether but working in some form elsewhere in this country. But developing a strong policy in this regard may create favorable opportunities for integrating public, private sectors as well as farmer groups and associations in coming years.
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Attitude and Preferences of Agricultural Scientists Towards Privatization of Agricultural Extension Service N.S. Shivalinge Gowda1 and R. Saravanan2
The fast changing trends in Indian agriculture demands the client accountable and demand-driven extension approach to provide cost-effective, bottom-up, farmer participatory extension service for clients to increase productivity and income. In the near future, privatization of agricultural extension service is an inviting proposition. Before effecting such changes, it was felt necessary to know the attitude and preferences of agricultural scientists towards privatization of agricultural extension. Measuring attitude as a psychological natural tendency provides basis for planning and also affect desirable changes in the existing system. The prime objective of the study was to know the attitude and preferences of scientists towards privatization of agricultural extension service.
Operational Definition on of Attitude Towards PAES Attitude towards privatization of agricultural extension service refers to the “individual’s degree of favorableness or unfavorable ness towards privatization of agricultural extension service.
Operational definition of privatization of agricultural extension service (PAES) “Privatization of agricultural extension service refers to the services rendered in the area of agriculture and allied aspects by extension personnel working in the private agencies or organizations for which farmers are expected to pay 1 Associate professor, 2 Ph.D.Scholar. Department of Agricultural Extension, UAS, GKVK, Bangalore -560 065. Private Extension in India
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fee and it can be viewed as supplementary or alternative to public extension service”.
METHODOLOGY The investigation was conducted in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu state, during March and April 1999. Forty scientists representing the agricultural Social Science disciplines such as, agricultural extension, agricultural economics and who was much exposed to agricultural development and policy issues were selected from TNAU, SBI and CJCR at Coimbatore. A summated rating scale has been administered (Saravanan and Shivalinge Gowda, 1999) to collect the data from the respondents. Based on the attitude scores, the respondents were categorized into three categories considering mean and standard deviation as measure of check.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Table 1: Attitude of Scientists towards PAES Attitude Category Least favourable Favourable Most Favourable
Attitude Score
Scientists (n = 40)
(max:105, min: 21)
Number
Percent
< 60.43
11.00
27.50
60.44 - 78.81
20.00
50.00
> 78.82
9.00
22.50
The results of the study revealed that a good number of scientists had (50.00 percent) favorable and (22.50 percent) most favorable attitude. However, more than one forth proportion of the scientists had least favorable attitude towards privatization of agricultural extension service. Favorable attitude of higher proportion of scientists is attributed mainly by the following positive aspects of privatization. Going privatization is expected 82
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to ease the financial burden of government, enhances the over all efficiency of agricultural extension system, private extension system provides farmers’ need based advisory services, and farmers are more committed to the services and they follow advice of private extension workers. Some proportion of scientists also had least favorableness, because of private agricultural extension service not suitable to small and marginal farmers and rain fed area provides less scope for private extension. Research results reported that (Saravanan et al., 1999) scientists had great agreement with statements like privatization increases the accountability of extension personnel to farmers, enhances production of commercial crops, ensures quality extension service, increases professionalism, creates additional income to farmers and enhance the farmers commitment to extension service.
Scientists Preferences With respect to preference towards privatization of agricultural extension service the results indicated that, nearly half proportion of the scientists (47.5 percent) preferred privatization in all the crops invariably, nearly same percent of scientists (45 percent) preferred privatization only for commercial agricultural and horticultural crops. Majority of the scientists preferred privatization for all the categories of farmers (55 percent) and nearly half of the proportion of scientists (45 percent) preferred privatization only for large farmers. Majority of the scientists (75 percent) preferred privatization in all agro-climatic regions. The results also indicated that, scientists had two different types of responses, considerable proportion of scientists preferred privatization only for commercial agricultural and horticultural crops, only to big farmers and wet land areas only. This might be due to the fact that the commercial agencies concentrate their activities on areas having favorable environment such as fertile soil, sufficient irrigation, resourceful big farmers, and cash crop growing areas. However, majority of scientists also preferred privatization in all the categories of farmers, in all crops which might be due to the assumption that, farmers
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even though poor, they will be willing to pay for the service, whose expected service value is greater than the cost, extension is an economic input and generates new income (Keynan et al., 1997).
Conclusion Results of the investigation clearly indicates that scientists had favorable attitude and also expecting desirable consequences of privatization. Considering heterogeneity in the Indian farming privatization should be experimented in a phased manner.
References Saravanan, R. 1999, A study on privatization of agricultural extension service. M.Sc. (Ag. Extension) thesis (unpublished), Department of Agriculture Extension, UAS, Bangalore. Saravanan, R. and Shivalinge Gowda, N.S., 1999, Development of scale to measure attitude towards privatization of agricultural extension service. Tropical Agricultural Research, Vol.11, pp.190-198 PGIA, Sri Lanka. Saravanan, R., Shivalinge Gowda, N.S., and Chandre Gowda, M.d., 1999, The expected consequences of privatization of agricultural extension service as perceived by scientists. Current Research, Vol.28, UAS, Bangalore. Keynan, G., Olin, M. and Dinar, A., 1997, Co-financed public extension in Nicaragua. The World Bank Research Observer, 12(2): 225-247.
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Privatization of Extension Service: Attitudes and Preferences of Extension Personnel S.N. Hanchinal1, B. Sundaraswamy 2 and M.R. Ansari3
Governments have traditionally taken the dominant role in the provision of agricultural extension service because of the important contribution the agricultural sector makes to economy. However, increased fiscal deficits in many developing countries and in several cases, problems of poor management of public programmes over the last decade have increasingly redirected attention towards how to make extension cost-effective and responsive to specific farmer’s needs. At the same time, this has generated increased attention towards reforms of public sector agricultural service provision in many countries in which government extension services are criticized for being inefficient and out of touch with needs of their clients and wider society (Carney, 1998). The trend is to reduce the role of the state and to promote private enterprise. Hansra (1996) while discussing Indian scenario stated that, thinking is on at the national level to privatize extension efforts of the country. In this direction there is a need to identify the area, types of farmers, geographic location etc., to whom private extension can suit. In our country, the privatization has already taken place in the disciplines of veterinary extension, plantation crops, seedproduction and floriculture. We should take this reform with a caution in our country, as there is lot of heterogeneity in farming systems. However, empirical evidence on possibilities for reform remains limited. Many policy makers in transitional and less industrialized countries are keen to know of more concrete cases that enable them to obtain a vision of how the process of public sector reform can proceed (Hoffmann, et.al., 2000). To * Part of Ph.D Thesis submitted by senior author to Univ. of Agril.Sci., Dharwad. 1. Associate Professor 2. Professor and Head 3. Professor Dept. of Agril. Extension Education College of Agriculture, Dharwad-580005, Karnataka. Private Extension in India
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this end, as to what extent the extension personnel are in favor of charging fee for service extended by private/public extension organizations; in which crop/enterprises they feel to extend private/public services and above all what is their attitude towards privatization the present study was designed with the following specific objectives.
Objectives : 1.
To study the attitude of extension personnel towards privatization of extension service.
2.
To know the areas of service in which extension personnel prefer privatization of extension service.
METHODOLOGY: The research work was conducted in Haveri district of Karnataka State. This district was purposively selected because nearly 70 private companies involved in extension service and supply of agricultural inputs are functioning in this area. Among seven taluks in Haveri district the private seed producing companies are intensively operating in Haveri, Ranebennur, Byadgi and Hirekerur taluks. Hence, these four taluks purposively formed the locale of the study. The maximum area covered by crops namely cotton, jowar, maize, sunflower, chilli and ragi and for which private seed producing companies provide hybrid seeds was also considered for selection of study area. Accordingly, a total of 16 villages were finally selected for the study. It was planned in advance to consider only those extension personnel who were primarily responsible for field extension work in the study area. Accordingly, among the total extension personnel in the State Department of Agriculture 8 Agricultural Assistants, 4 Assistant Agricultural Officers and 4 Assistant Director of Agriculture responsible for selected circles, ranges and taluks, respectively were purposively selected as respondents. It was to arbitrarily include 60 extension personnel for the study. So the information on number of field extension personnel of private agri-business agencies operating in the study area was obtained in consultation 86
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with company officials. From the list obtained the remaining 44 extension personnel were selected randomly giving representation to all the major agribusinesses. In all there were 60 extension personnel selected for the study. The data was elicited from the respondents through pre-tested structured interview schedule by personal interview method. An attitude scale was developed for the study following standard procedure. The reliability coefficient of the scale found to be 0.81 indicating high internal consistency.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 1. Atitude of Extension Personnel towards Privatization of Extension Service Table 1: Attitude of farmers towards privatization of extension service
Category
n=60 Mean Attitude Score
Number
Per Cent
Less favorable ( 105.55)
19
31.67
108.53
Mean – 89.77
SD – 15.73
The data in Table 1 revealed that the respondents were almost equally distributed in less favorable (33.33%), favorable (35.00%) and more favorable (31.67%) attitude categories. The overall mean attitude score was 89.77. It is interesting to note that favorable and more favorable attitude categories put together accounted for 66.67 % of the respondents. Hence it could be inferred that majority of the extension personnel in the study area were convinced about the advantages of privatization of extension service. Since the sample of extension personnel for the study comprised majority (75.00%) from private agency, to know in trend of this phenomenon the attitude scores of private agency extension personnel (44 Nos.) and government agency extension personnel (16 Nos.) were separately analyzed. It was found that mean attitude score of private agency extension personnel 93.36 was higher than that of government agency extension personnel i.e. 79.87. The Private Extension in India
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‘t’ value obtained was significant at 1 per cent level of probability. This implied that both the categories of the respondents were statistically differed with respect to mean attitude score. The reason for securing low mean attitude score by the government extension personnel might be because of their favorable attitude towards their parent organization for which they are working, thereby implying that they are not for privatization of extension service.
2. Preference of extension personnel towards extension services of private and government agencies The results delineated in Table 2 showed that majority (70.00%) of the respondents preferred private agency to extend technical service in the area of cultivation of flowers followed by cultivation of vegetable crops (66.67%), seed-production (63.33%), cultivation of fruit crops (61.67%) and post- harvest technology (51.67%) implying that the extension personnel had inclination towards private agency intervention in seed-production, horticultural crops and post-harvest technology. The majority of the extension personnel (62.50%) were from private agencies involved in seed-production relating to commercial and horticultural crops. Looking to the tremendous response from farmers in seed production with respect to commercial and horticultural crops probably they might have felt that they could extend much help to these farmers, show progress in their work and achieve job satisfaction. This might be the probable reason why they preferred extension service from private agencies in the area of seed-production and horticultural crops. About sixty two per cent (61.67%) of the respondents possessed Bachelor degree in Agriculture. It is obvious that they had knowledge about the importance of post-harvest technology, which contribute to the value addition of farm produce. In the area of seed-production particularly in commercial and horticultural crops, storing and grading are done by the farmers; the processing and packaging are done by the private agencies concerned. Generally, grading procedure for different crops vary from agency to agency depending on their national and international buyers. Keeping this in mind probably the respondents 88
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Table 2: Preference of privatization of extension service by the farmers
Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
Items
Land development Cultivation practices of food crops Cultivation practices of vegetable crops Cultivation practices of fruit crops Cultivation practices of flowers Seed production Irrigation technology Post-harvest technology Dairy Poultry Vermicomposting Marketing services Credit service
Respondents preferences for Private Govt. agency agency No. % No. %
n=60 Opinion to charge for technical service To be Not to be charged charged No. % No. %
27 23
45.00 38.33
33 37
55.00 61.67
31 21
51.67 8.75
29 48.33 39 91.25
40
66.67
20
33.33
31
51.67
29 48.33
37
61.67
23
38.33
32
53.33
28 46.67
42
70.00
18
30.00
32
53.33
28 46.67
38 29 31 29 28 23 23 25
63.33 48.33 51.67 48.33 46.67 38.33 38.33 41.67
22 31 29 31 32 37 37 35
36.67 51.67 48.33 51.67 53.33 61.67 61.67 58.33
42 36 33 33 33 29 34 30
70.00 60.00 55.00 55.00 55.00 48.33 56.67 50.00
18 24 27 27 27 31 26 30
30.00 40.00 45.00 45.00 45.00 51.67 43.33 50.00
might have preferred the private agencies to extend technical information in respect of post-harvest technology.
3. Opinion of the extension personnel towards charging for extension service The analysis of the results in Table 2 revealed that extension personnel opined to charge for all the services considered for the study except the services in respect of cultivation of food crops and vermin composting. It is general tendency that any thing that is offered “free of cost” may remain unutilized. If the same thing is purchased, then an individual will feel concern and use it carefully and judiciously. This philosophy might have very Private Extension in India
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well experienced by the extension personnel in course of their contact with farmers. On the other hand, the efficient and appropriate extension services in the areas like seed-production, irrigation technologies, marketing services, cultivation of flowers, fruits and vegetables, land development and credit services will definitely lead to profit maximization to farmers. Hence, extension personnel respondents might have expressed their opinion that the extension services in the above areas are to be charged.
Implications The results of the present study with respect to attitude and preferences towards privatization of extension service implies that, extension personnel in general have realized the need of private intervention in the area of agriculture, particularly in seed-production, cultivation of horticulture crops and postharvest technology in irrigated and assured rain fall areas. Further, they were of the opinion to charge for the technical services rendered to farmers in all the areas included in the study except cultivation of food crops and vermicomposting. Hence, considering the opinion based on their experience, private agri-business companies can offer technical services in seed-production, horticulture crops and post-harvest technologies on nominal charges on pilot basis.
References Carney, D., 1998, Changing Public and Private Roles in Agricultural Service Provisions. London: ODI. Hanchinal, S.N., 1999, Privatization of extension service: Attitude and Preference of Farmers and extension personnel. Ph.D. Thesis (Unpubl.), University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka. Hansra, B.S., 1996, A Peep in to the future extension. Indian J. of Extension Education, Indian Society of Extension Education, IARI, New Delhi. Hoffmann, V., 2000, reforming the organization of agricultural extension in Germany: Lessons for other countries, Network Paper No. 98, ODI, London. 90
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Privatisation of Agricultural Extension System in India: Preferences and Constraints R.Venkatakumar1 , N.Anandaraja2 K.B.Sripal3 and N.Sriram 2
The privatization of extension, in the strictest sense has actually taken place only in a few developed countries like, Netherlands, Newzealand and Australia etc. The term ‘privatization’ means a full transfer of ownership, usually by way of sale, from Government to private entity (Rivera, 1997). But it is a term often broadly conceived to include efforts by countries to decentralize and/ or fiscally redesign their extension systems. India has the largest extension system in the world with about 1.5 lakh paid agricultural extension personnel catering to the needs of the farming community and allied vocations of over 90 million farm families, among which an overwhelming majority are small and marginal farmers with an average land holding of 1.63 ha, scattered and fragmented over different agro-climatic zones. The term ‘privatization’ means a full transfer of ownership, usually by way of sale, from government to private entity. However, the term is often broadly conceived to include efforts by countries, to decentralize and/or fiscally redesign their extension systems (Rivera, 1997). However, in India, we should take this step with a caution that in our country there is a lot of heterogeneity in farming systems. Also the following factors to be considered for privatization of agricultural extension service in India. 1.
Types of crops cultivated
1. Scientist – Extension, NRCC, Puttur. 2. Ph.D. Scholar, Dept. of Agrl. Extension, TNAU, Coimbatore. 3. Professor and Head, Video Unit, TNAU, Coimbatore. Private Extension in India
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2.
Socio-economic differences
3.
Entirely drastic agro-climatic variations
4.
Changes in rainfall pattern, vagaries of monsoon, floods and cyclones etc.
Increasing budgetary crisis and fiscal deficits have forced not only the developed countries but also developing countries like India to look into alternative ways to seek assistance from private agencies to take up the task of agricultural extension service. The budget allocation for agriculture is dominated by various subsidies to the farming community viz., input subsidies and free grant of electric power supply to the farmers for agricultural purposes. So the chances for the privatization of agricultural extension due to this over burden of our proportion of budget to agriculture may give rise one day or other day to privatize fully / partially. If the national level proposals, are on to privatize extension efforts, then there arises a need for the identification of the preferences of the farming community towards the type of privatization, regions, crops, type of farmers etc., since they are the ultimate target who are to be hit by the hitherto discussed privatization. Not only the preferences and constraints faced by the farmers, but also the extension workers and the researches who are extending services and conducting researches respectively, are also should be identified. Then only the concept ‘privatization of extension service’ could be formulated with a sense of meaningfulness so as to serve for the farming community. Based on the above said angles and orientation a study was formulated by imagination a situation that “if our agricultural extension service be privatized” with the following objective. 1.
To know the preferences of farmers, extension workers and researchers towards privatization of agricultural extension.
2.
To know the perceived constraints of respondents in privatizing the agricultural extension service.
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Research Methodology The study was carried out in Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. The study area was selected because of its progressiveness in agriculture. The study was conducted with three types of respondents (viz.,) Researchers (30) working in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Extension Workers (21) working in Coimbatore district. To investigate the preferences of the researchers and extension workers or well developed questionnaire was developed, whereas the preferences of the farmers were collected from a well developed interview schedule. From the researchers the responses were collected in person by the researcher, whereas from the extension workers the responses collected in person by the researcher, whereas from the extension workers the responses were collected in a monthly zonal workshop. From the farmers the responses were collected by direct interview at villages by the researcher. To know about the respondents perceived constraints in privatization, 11 statements exposing various constraints were constructed and investigated as against a two point continuum viz., agree and disagree. To investigate the researchers and extension workers, questionnaire was used whereas the responses from the farmers were collected from interview schedule containing same statements. The collected data were analyzed by percentage analysis for simple comparison and for further discussion. From the inferences possible discussions were tried to bring down.
Results and Discussion A. Preferences of respondents towards Privatization of Agricultural Extension Service: Preferences of respondents towards privatization of agricultural extension service implies the (i) preferences of the respondents towards crops (i.e.) which
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are all the crops should be brought under privatization, (ii) preferences towards clientele groups (i.e.) who are all the clients categories should be brought under privatization and (iii) preferences towards privatization approaches (i.e.) what are all the approaches for privatizing agricultural extension service. For this purpose all respondents were contacted and farmers respondents who did not respond to the privatization (i.e.) those who were having unfavorable attitude towards privatization were not asked for the preferences. 1. Preferences of farmers towards privatization of agricultural extension For this purpose small, medium and large farmers were individually contacted and the pooled data also given. It could be inferred from the table 1 that 28.89 per cent of the total farmers preferred the privatization of commercial crops whereas 13.33 per cent of them preferred the privatization of horticultural crops and only 11.11 per cent of the farmer respondents preferred the privatization of all the field crops. It could be interpreted that majority of the farmer respondents had the opinion to privatize the commercial crops and horticultural crops. Since higher profit could be obtained from the commercial and horticultural crops than other field crops, this type of preference was occurred among the farmers. Regarding the preferences of the farmers towards, clientele groups, it could be seen from the table 1 that nearly one-fifth of them (22.22%) preferred that privatization should be done to large farmers only, whereas 8.89 per cent of them preferred that privatization should be imposed to all farmers categories and farmers growing commercial crops only. It could be interpreted that majority of the farmer respondents who gave the opinion preferred that privatization should be imposed to large farmers only. Since large farmers having larger area, their profit will be more and with better socio-economic status than the other farmers, this preference was occurred. Regarding the preferences of farmers towards privatization based on the criteria, it could be viewed from the table 1 that nearly one-third (31.11%) of the farmer respondents had the opinion that privatization should be done 94
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Table 1: Preferences of respondents towards Privatization of Agricultural Extension Service Sl. Preferences Farmers Extension Researchers No. (%) workers (%) (%) I. 1. 2. 3.
Crops All the field crops Only for commercial crops Only for horticultural crops
11.11 28.89 13.33
42.85 14.29 4.76
57.14 7.14 7.14
II. a.
Clientele groups 1. All the farmers 2. Only to large farmers 3. Horticultural farmers 4. Commercial crop growing farmers
8.89 22.22 8.89
47.62 23.81 9.52 19.05
39.28 25.00 28.57 35.71
b.
1. 2. 3. 4.
31.11 8.89
23.81 38.10 19.05 19.05
21.42 17.86 17.86 35.71
III. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Approaches Complete privatization Share cropping Decentralization of Government service Privatization + Government subsidy Joint funding Through NGO’s and private agencies Through co-operatives Changing levy
6.69 15.56 2.22 26.67 -
14.29 33.33 4.76 19.05 14.29 19.05
52.00 3.57 3.57 14.21 3.57 21.43 10.71
Categorizing Categorizing Categorizing Categorizing
on socio-economic status according to farm income based on farm size based on progressiveness
based on categorizing the farmers based on socio-economic status. Farmers with better socio-economic status can afford to privatize extension service than the farmers with less socio-economic status. So this type of preference had occurred. Regarding the approaches of privatization, nearly one-fourth (26.67%) of the farmer respondents had preferred the privatization + government subsidy approach whereas 15.56 per cent of them preferred sharecropping. Other Private Extension in India
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approaches were preferred by only meager portion of the farming community. This might be due to the fact that subsidy is a phenomenon which the farmers never like to give up because many of the inputs they get from subsidy only. Sharecropping is the system by which the extension workers can share the profit, which is the factor will make the extension workers to do the service effectively. 2. Preferences of extension workers towards privatization of agricultural extension service It could be viewed from the table 1 that more than two-fifth of them (42.85%) had preferred the privatization to all field crops and less than twofifth of them (38.10%) preferred privatization for both commercial and horticultural crops. Regarding the preferences towards the categories, nearly half of them (46.62%) had preferred privatization for all the categories and nearly one-fourth of them (23.81%) had privatization to large farmers only. Slightly less than two-fifth of them (38.10%) had preferred categorizing farmers based on farm income, whereas around one-fifth of them had preferred categorizing the farmers based on socio-economic status (23.81%), farm size (19.05%) and progressiveness (19.05%). Regarding the privatization approaches one-third of the respondents preferred privatization + government subsidy whereas one-fifth of them preferred sponsoring through NGO’s and private agencies and changing levy, followed by 14.29 per cent of them preferred complete privatization and sponsoring through co-operatives. 3. Preferences of Researchers / Scientists towards privatization of agricultural extension service It could be seen from the table 1 that more than half of them (57.14%) preferred privatizing all field crops followed by more than one-fourth of them (28.57%) preferred privatizing both commercial and horticultural crops. 96
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Regarding the preferences towards clientele groups, nearly equal percentage of them preferred privatizing all farmer categories (39.28%) and privatization for those growing commercial crops (35.71%) whereas one-fourth of them preferred privatization for farmers growing horticultural crops (28.57%) and for large farmers (25.00%). Exactly 35.71 per cent of them preferred categorization based on progressiveness of the farmers whereas equal percentage of the farmers preferred categorization based on socio-economic status (21.42%), farm income (17.86%) and farm size (17.86%). Regarding the privatizations approaches half of the researchers (52.00%) preferred complete privatization and one-fifth of them (21.43%) preferred privatization through sponsoring NGO’s and private agencies, 14.29 per cent of them privatization + government subsidy and 10.71 per cent of them preferred sponsoring through co-operatives.
B) Perceived constraints of respondents towards Privatization of Agricultural Extension Service: Regarding the perceived constraints of the respondents, it could be viewed from the table 2 that against the constraint statement-I, 53.33 per cent of the large farmers, 20 per cent of the medium farmers and 6.67 per cent of the small farmers agreed whereas 80.95 per cent of the extension workers and 78.57 per cent of the researchers had agreed this constraint statement. Half of the large farmers (53.33%), one-fifth of the medium farmers and 6.67 per cent small farmers, 85.71 per cent of the extension workers and 75 per cent of the researchers agreed that more than 20 per cent of the cultivable area in our country is occupied with dry lands possessed by small and marginal farmers and which will be a constraint for privatization. More than ninety per cent of the extension workers (90.48%) and half of the researchers (57.14%) agreed that Indian agriculture is mainly based on input subsidies including free electrical service which cannot be dropped all Private Extension in India
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More dry lands and possessed by small and marginal farmers
Input subsidies all of a sudden can’t be dropped after privatization
The political background
Privatization based on criteria will lead to socio-economic inequality and regional imbalance
Employment opportunity will be critical for agricultural graduates
Lead to increased production of commercial crops
Quality of research by private agencies will be a question mark
Trained personnel for private agencies will be question mark
Research, private extension will not be a satisfactory one
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.Over fragmented land holdings
Varied agro-climatic conditions, varied crops, varied socio-economic imbalances will not allow privatization
1.
6.67
6.67
6.67
6.67
6.67
6.67
6.67
6.67
6.67
6.67
6.67
A
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
DA
20.00
20.00
13.33
13.33
20.00
13.33
6.67
6.67
20.00
20.00
20.00
A
DA
A
DA
A
DA
26.67 40.00 90.48
9.52
57.14 42.86
53.33 13.33 85.71 14.29 75.00 25.00
53.33 13.33 80.95 19.05 78.57 21.43
A
-
-
6.67
6.67
-
-
53.33 13.33 90.48
9.52
71.43 28.57
53.33 13.33 71.43 28.57 25.00 75.00
33.33 33.33 66.67 33.33 39.29 60.71
46.16 20.00 66.87 33.33 35.71 64.29
33.33 33.33 71.43 28.57 39.29 60.71
33.33 33.33 71.43 28.57 39.29 60.71
13.33 40.00 26.67 76.19 23.81 53.57 46.43
13.33 40.00 26.67 80.95 19.05 46.43 33.57
-
-
-
DA
Table 2: Perceived constraints of respondents towards privatization of agricultural extension service Sl. Constraints Farmers Extension Researworkers chers No. SF (%) MF (%) LF (%) (%) (%)
of a sudden by privatization whereas 26.67 per cent large farmers, 20 per cent medium farmers and 6.67 per cent of the small farmers agreed this constraint. “The political background of our country will not allow the privatization” is agreed as a constraint by 40 per cent of the large farmers and 6.67 per cent of the small and medium farmers whereas 80.95 per cent of the extension workers and 46.93 per cent of the researchers agreed this statement. Privatization based on different criteria viz., area, respondents, crops etc., will lead to socio-economic inequality and regional imbalance as a constraint accepted by 6.67 per cent of the small and medium farmers and 40 per cent of the large farmers where 76.19 per cent extension workers and 53.57 per cent researchers accepted this as a constraint. “Employment opportunity for the large number of agricultural graduates will be a critical position which will be a constraint for privatization” was agreed by 71.43 per cent of the extension workers and 40 per cent of the researchers. Exactly 6.67 per cent of small farmers, 20 per cent medium farmers, 33.37 per cent large farmers, 71.43 per cent extension workers and 67.86 per cent researchers agreed that “to feed the exploding population will need increased production of food crops whereas privatization will lead to increased production of commercial crops” as a constraint. Exactly 66.67 per cent extension workers and 35.71 per cent researchers agreed that the quality of research by private agencies will be poor. Exactly 66.67 per cent of the extension workers and 39.29 per cent of the researchers agreed that adequate and well trained personnel available with private agencies in the aspect of extension service will be a question mark. “Collaboration between the research system and extension system will be unsatisfactory” as a constraint accepted by 71.43 per cent of the extension workers and 25 per cent of the researchers. “The nature of land holding in our country is over fragmented which will be a constraint to consolidate all farmers so that group approach for privatization Private Extension in India
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can be done” was accepted as a constraint by 6.67 per cent, 20 per cent, 53.33 per cent, 90.48 per cent and 71.48 per cent of the small, medium, large farmers, extension workers and researchers respectively.
Summary and Conclusion Major portion of the farmers preferred privatization should be done to commercial crops only, to large farmers only and based on the socio-economic status. They preferred the privatization + government subsidy approach. Majority of the extension workers preferred privatization for all crops, for all farmers, categorizing based on farm income and preferred privatization + subsidy approach. Majority of the researchers preferred privatization for all field crops, for all farmer categories, categorizing based on progressiveness and approach of sponsoring through NGO’s and private agencies. Socio-economic imbalances, more dry lands and fragmented land holdings were the constraints accepted by a considerable portion of the farming community. Almost all the constraints were accepted by majority of the extension workers. Socio-economic imbalances, more dry lands, subsidy-based service and fragmented land holdings were the constraints accepted by majority of the researchers. It is suggested that the Government can take pilot steps through the State Department of Agriculture to privatize in sample areas for commercial crops and for large farmers. Privatization + government subsidy was accepted by all categories of the respondents and the above discussed constraints should be followed to find out whether there are possibilities to overcome these constraints. So as a pilot research, this approach can be test verified in the sample areas.
References Anonymous, 1996. Extension Approaches. Extension Digest. Vol.4, No.3, October, MANAGE, Hyderabad. Willium M.Rivera. 1998. Privatization and Agricultural Extension : A Review of Current Extension Policy Reform Strategies. 100
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Attitudes and Preferences of Farmers Towards Privatization of Extension Service S.N. Hanchinal1, B. Sundaraswamy 2 and M.R. Ansari3
Presently worldwide, the agricultural sector is faced with several serious challenges such as heavy demand for food; declining cultivated area due to population pressure; declining agricultural productivity due to natural resource degradation; and increased competition in international markets. The fundamental element in meeting these challenges is increasing production per unit area by adopting of improved agricultural production technologies and marketing techniques by farmers and other concerned entrepreneurs. This transition from ‘resource based’ to ‘technology based’ system of agriculture, however, places greater responsibility on the Agril.Extension sector, since it is a vital channel of new agricultural information and technologies to farmers as well as vital channel back to researchers and policy makers concerned with farmers problems and needs (Umali and Schwartz, 1994). Governments have traditionally taken dominant role in provision of Agricultural Extension Services because of the important contribution the agricultural sector makes to economy. However, increased fiscal deficits in many developing countries and in several cases, problems of poor management of public programmes over the last decade have increasingly redirected attention towards how to make extension cost-effective and responsive to specific farmers needs. At the same time, this has generated increased attention towards the potential for privatization of agricultural extension service. Keeping in view, the international situation and Indian experience in 1. Associate Professor, 2. Professor and Head, 3. Professor Dept. of Agril. Extension Education College of Agriculture, Dharwad-580 005, Karnataka. Private Extension in India
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privatization of extension service, and also as there are no empirical evidences elsewhere in the country and particularly in Karnataka, as to what extent the farmers are in favor of paying fee for service extended by public/private extension organizations; in which crops/enterprises they need public/private services and above all what is their attitude towards privatization the present study was designed with following specific objectives.
Objectives: 1. To study the attitude of farmers towards privatization of extension service 2. To know the areas of service in which farmers prefer privatization of extension Service.
METHODOLOGY: The research work was conducted in Haveri district of Karnataka State. This district was purposively selected because nearly 70 private companies involved in extension service and supply of agricultural inputs are functioning in this area. Among seven taluks in Haveri district the private seed producing companies are intensively operating in Haveri, Ranebennur, Byadgi and Hirekerur taluks. Hence, these four taluks purposively formed the locale of the study. The maximum area covered by crops namely cotton, jowar, maize, sunflower, chilli and ragi and for which private seed producing companies provide hybrid seeds was also considered for selection of study area. Accordingly, a total of 16 villages were finally selected for the study. A list of farmers was prepared separately for each of selected village. From the list prepared, 15 farmers were selected randomly for each village irrespective of total number of farmers in that village. Thus sample size comprised of 240 farmer respondents. The data was elicited from the respondents through pre-tested structured schedule by personal interview method. An attitude scale was developed for the study following standard procedure. The reliability coefficient of the scale found to be 0.81 indicating high internal consistency. 102
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: 1. Attitude of farmers towards privatization of extension service The results in table 1 revealed that 42.08 per cent of the respondents were grouped in “favourable” attitude category, whereas 34.59 and 23.33 per cent of them were grouped in “more favorable” and “less favorable” attitude categories, respectively. The favorable and more favorable categories put together accounted for 76.59 per cent of the respondents. Table 1: Attitude of farmers towards privatization of extension service
Category
n=240 Mean Attitude Score
Number
Per Cent
56
23.33
90.00
Favorable (93.36 to 110.42)
101
42.08
102.37
More favorable (> 110.42)
83
34.59
112.33
Less favorable (< 93.36)
Mean – 101.89
SD – 8.53
In the study area, nearly seventy private national and multi-national companies in seed-production (56Nos.) and agro-inputs (13 Nos.) sales promotion are operating intensively. The private companies generally crowd in places where their profits out-weigh costs. This crowding of private companies implies that the area is more fascinating for private firms in terms of soil, water, climate and farmer’s response. Generally, farmer’s attitude towards any agency, private or government depends on economic benefit, availability of agro-inputs and technical and market services at right time from the agency. During data collection, many respondents revealed that since 8-9 years i.e. after the introduction of seed-production by private agencies in the area the economic status of seedproducing farmers has improved because of high prices provided by the seed companies for the seed material produced. In view of the fact farmers welcomed services of private extension agencies over the government, particularly in the area of seed- production. This might be the plausible reason for the favorable attitude of majority of the farmers towards privatization of extension service. Private Extension in India
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The above finding was in conformity with research finding of Naik (1994) and Sureshkumar (1997).
2. Preference of extension service of private and government agencies by the farmers: The results in table 2 revealed that majority (61.67 %) of the respondents preferred technical service in the area of “seed-production” from private agencies followed by cultivation practices of fruit crops (53.33 %), vegetable crops (52.92 %) and flowers (52.92 %). Further, majority of the respondents preferred government extension service in the areas like poultry (96.25 %), dairy (95.00 %), cultivation practices of food crops (93.33 %), land development (91.25 %), credit services (78.75 %). Government agency extension service was also preferred by more than half of the respondents in the areas of irrigation technology (66.25 %) and post harvest technology (53.75 %). The inference that could be drawn from the above analysis is that the respondents have realised the advantages of privatization in case of seedproduction and horticultural crops (fruits, vegetables and flowers). The study area is known for its seed-production activities by the private agencies in the country. These private companies generally cover seed-production in both commercial and horticultural crops. They usually identify farmers with irrigation facilities and make “contract” for seed-production. The concerned company provides seeds and other inputs are purchased by farmers as per the company recommendations in the open market. The company officials do strict supervision and remunerative prices are provided. During field investigation farmers expressed that seed-production is a profitable activity. Further, they also opined that the income from seed-production exceeds the total income from rest of the farm many a times. Naturally, farmers prefer those agencies that take responsibility to supervise agricultural operations and ensure better income to farmers. In the study the number of seed producing farmers included was 62.50 per cent of total farmer respondent’s sample. The above factors might have induced the farmers to prefer extension service from private agencies for seed-production activities. 104
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Table 2: Preference of privatization of extension service by the farmers
Sl. No.
Items
Respondents preferences for Private Govt. agency agency No. % No. %
n=240 Willingness to pay for service Not Willing Willing No. % No. %
1
Land development
2
8.75
219 91.25
58
24.17 182 75.83
2
Cultivation practices of food crops
16
6.67
224 93.33
29
12.08 211 87.92
3
Cultivation practices of vegetable crops
127 52.92 113 47.08 125 52.08 115 47.92
4
Cultivation practices of fruit crops
128 53.33 112 46.67 132 55.00 108 45.00
5
Cultivation practices of flowers
127 52.92 113 47.08 136 56.67 104 43.33
6
Seed production
148 61.67
7
Irrigation technology
81
8
Post-harvest technology
111 46.25 129 53.75
99
9
Dairy
12
5.00
228 90.00
20
8.33
220 91.67
10
Poultry
9
3.75
231 96.25
16
6.67
224 93.33
11
Vermicomposting
33
13.75 207 86.25
58
12
Marketing services
51
21.25 189 78.75 101 42.08 139 57.92
13
Credit service
21
8.75
92
38.33 199 82.92
41 17.08
33.75 159 66.25 136 56.67 104 43.33
219 91.25
23
41.25 141 58.75
24.17 182 75.83
9.58
217 90.42
It is evident in the study area that seed-production is confined to commercial and horticultural crops and mainly managed by private agencies. In fact farmers prefer to take up seed-production in horticultural crops compared to commercial crops as they fetch relatively higher price. This might be the probable reason why farmers preferred extension service from private agencies in horticultural crops.
3.
Willingness of farmers to pay for extension service:
The results in table 2 revealed that a large majority (89.92 %) of the respondents were willing to pay towards the technical services rendered in Private Extension in India
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area of seed-production followed by more than fifty per cent with respect to irrigation technology (56.67 %), cultivation practices of flowers (56.67 %), fruit crops (55.00 %) and vegetable crops (52.08 %), while in other areas majority of farmers were unwilling to pay for the service rendered irrespective of agency. It could be inferred from the above analysis that respondents were selective to pay for the extension service rendered. It is true that farmers will be ready for cost sharing only when the benefits out-weigh their costs (Samanta, 1997). Since, the majority of respondents (62.50 %) belonged to seed producer’s category had the personal experience of economic advantage and other farmers might be aware of this advantage due to their close interaction with seed producers. This might be the probable reason for the majority of respondents to express their willingness to pay for service in the area of seed-production. Irrigation is an important component in achieving higher yields and quality produce. It has more importance in seed-production. In this context, farmers might be willing to pay for the appropriate irrigation technology which increases yield and quality produce irrespective of type of agency. As far as cultivation of horticultural crops (flowers, fruits and vegetables) is concerned the respondents were willing to pay for the extension service rendered irrespective of type of agency because of conviction of commercial value of horticultural crops in recent years and also because of economic advantage in producing seeds of horticultural crops.
Implications: The results with respect to attitude and preferences towards privatization of extension service implies that, farmers in general have realized the advantages of private intervention in the area of agriculture, particularly in seed-production. There is scope for intervention of private agencies for extending technical service in irrigated and assured rainfall areas. Further, farmers have realized that the areas such as seed-production, cultivation of horticultural crops and irrigation, through which profit can be maximized by 106
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taking technical service from private agencies and even on payment. Hence, private companies may offer technical services in these areas on nominal charge for their services.
References: Hanchinal, S.N., 1999, Privatization of extension service: attitude and preferences of farmers and extension personnel.Ph.D. Thesis (Unpub.), University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka. Naik, R.H., 1994, Awareness, attitude and use pattern of different seed supplying agencies by the farmers of Dharwad district. M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis (Unpub.), University of Agricultural Sciences, Dharwad, Karnataka. Samanta, R.K., 1997, Reorienting extension in changing global agricultural perspective. In Samanta, R.K. and Arora, S.K., (edtd) Management of Agricultural Extension In Global Perspective. B.R. Publishing Corporation, New Delhi. Sureshkumar, M., 1997, Feasibility analysis of privatization of extension services for selected farm enterprises. Ph.D. Thesis (Unpub.), APAU, Hyderabad. Umali, D.L. and Schwartz, L., 1994, Public and private agricultural extension:Beyond traditional frontiers. World Bank Discussion Paper No.236, The World Bank, Washington, D.C., USA.
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Human Resource Development Among Professionals as an Approach and a Challenge for Privatization of Extension In India B.K. Narayana Swamy
Privatization is emerging as an important factor to cut down Government expenses, to get ride of embarrassment to extension education and to increase efficiency for large scale recognition of extension system in many countries of the world. In the last few decades, the agricultural situation in the country has undergone a qualitative change. Hence, privatization of extension is imminent for agricultural production and productivity especially in the light of introduction of liberalization and establishment of World Trade Organization (WTO). At the same time, the extension services of co-operatives, commercial consultants and suppliers are rapidly expanding. So under private extension ownership management incentive structural changes demand for modernization of working methods. Further, private extension professionals should be capable of training and motivating farmers for best use of resource available to them. To achieve this, under the present circumstances there is need for development of professional competency in private Extension professional. Communication of private extension system in a democratic society necessarily means two way process i.e., message dissemination and feed back, to assume a positive role in development policies. Hence, it should emerge as an policy instrument to integrate technical advice, production inputs, credit, marketing service and specialized services. Private extension system for agricultural development should be a tailor made programme specially designed for the situation, time, place and audience. It means careful selection of media, techniques and type of people to be involved and actions to be taken at different stages of the programme. However, it should help to increase production, productivity, and income and to have higher-level * Professor of Extension, Staff Training Unit, UAS, Hebbal, Bangalore - 560 024 108
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participation of farmers. A desired consequence of privatization is the expected increase of influence of farmers in the extension organization. It is expected that farmers will be more selective in looking for advice and that they will be more motivated to use the information brought by private extension. The wave of privatization is swapping across the country. The human resources are assuming increasing significance in private organizations. Extension private organizations are no exception It is also a fact that private extension organization productivity and profit seeking behavior is associated with the nature of human resources and this calls for an urgent need for developing them. To meet the requirements of changing scenario with efficiency, there is need for development of professional involved in private extension system. Private extension organization have the noble responsibility of providing capable, committed professional, who are not only knowledgeable but also have the right attitudes and values that match objectives of the organization. Development is an individual’s responsibility. Private extension organization should play a vital role in bringing in the realization for development and then providing opportunities for development. Private extension organization helps the professional learn new skills, so as to enable them to perform better. It has been confirmed that private organization with more progressive people oriented policies, have excelled leaving the competition behind. In the process of understanding one’s role and the expectations of one’s superiors, peer group and subordinates, an interactive process of judgment takes place. Generally, this process is understood as the establishment of working equations and the relative ease of difficulty in getting along with others. Usually, the process of judgment is based on ones perception of people, events and surroundings. Each one has a different frame of reference, different conditioning process that one has been subjected to, thus leading to different perceptions. This invariably leads to misunderstanding, communication gaps and a host of other interpersonal problems. Maturity and effectiveness demand that one understands these problems and honor the unique of each individual. The ability to interact effectively with people is the key to peak performance both at work and in one’s personal life. Hence, a new approach for use of modern agricultural technologies becomes critical here. Therefore, use of modern agriculture technology strategies need to be more focused. When private Private Extension in India
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extension organization invest in professionals development training in turn they get higher skill and greater competence, which help to improve morale and productivity. Professionals growth is linked with the private extension organization growth, in view of long term profitability organizations need to invest in their professional development. Under the present circumstances to develop competency among private extension professional the following five approaches are appropriate. However, achieving sustainability is a challenge that needs to be tackled immediately. 1.
Developing knowledge, skill, attitude and attributes among professionals as an approach.
2.
Developing efficiency among. Professional to select appropriate innovations for diffusion as an approach.
3.
Developing communication ability, among professionals for effective communication as an approach.
4.
Developing entrepreneurship among professional as an approach.
5.
Training of professional to meet the demands of private extension organization as an approach.
1. Developing knowledge, skill, attitude and attributes among professionals as an approach. Private Extension Education aims at bringing desirable changes in the individual farmer in terms of his knowledge, attitude, skill and attributes. In order to bring about this the private extension professional should employ certain established and recommended methods / techniques to perform the function of transfer of technology efficiently and effectively. Hence, the Extension professional should have adequate knowledge, favorable attitude, required skill and needed attributes as shown in Narayana’s Lotus Model (Fig. 1) to develop competency among private extension professionals. However, planned and systematic effort to increase knowledge, improved skills, appropriate attitudes and other attributes among professionals is explained now. 110
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KNOWLEDGE
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Subject matter Farming systems Input & marketing Farm & Farm families Farmers problems Farm economics Extension methods
ATTITUDES
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Serving clients Tech. Know-how Field work Organisation Farmers Interest Problem solving Self-development
SKILLS
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Communication Technological Training Diagnostic Solutions Organisational Demonstration
ATTRIBUTES
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Self-confidence Personality Conduct Empathy Experience Flexibility Self-development
Fig.1: Areas need professional comptetency Development among private extension professional are shown on the Lotus Private Extension in India
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Knowledge: Is defined as retained concepts and relationships along with information concerning facts of the concerned subject. Private extension professional should have or retain knowledge of subject matter, farming systems, input and marketing, farm & farm families, farmers problems, farm economics and extension methods. Aattitudes: Is defined as predispositions of an individual to view their job, rural environment in a certain way along with other people and the work. Private extension professional should have favorable attitude towards serving clients, Tech. know-how, Field work, Organization, farmers interest, problem solving and self development Skills: Is defined as an acquired power of doing some thing competitively, Further, the ability to use ones knowledge effectively in execution along with professional attitudes and attributes in work situation with performance. The private extension professional should have abilities like communication skill, technological skill, training skill, diagnostic skill, skill in finding solutions, organizational skill and demonstration skill. Attributes: Refers to characteristics of an individual or qualities of an individual recognized as appropriate to a person. Further, explained a behavior characteristic of a person in different situations. The private extension professional should have the attributes like self-confidence, personality, conduct, empathy, experience, flexibility, and self-development. Training professional on the above lines is a planned and systematic effort to increase professional competency to enable the professional to increase knowledge, to improve skills, to inculcate appropriate attitude and develop needed attributes to serve farmers better. Several training models to be used by the organizations to influence the professional to make desirable changes in their behavior to achieve the objectives of the organization. However, understanding of modern agriculture technology and deliver it to users in a useable form along with monitoring of activities needed to implement and evaluate its usefulness are urgently needed. The information has to be integrated 112
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with available communication methods to suit the resource positions of social system and time following the integration. Further, good linkage have to be established with inter and intra system of private extension organization.
2.
Developing efficiency among professional to select appropriate innovations for diffusion as an approach.
Private extension professional should select appropriate innovations to communicate to farmers. Innovation is any idea perused as new in a geographical area by an individual member or a group of individuals at a particular point of time. Attribute regarded as the effect of a stated cause. Diffusion is the spread of new idea from a source to members of the social system through a communication network over a period of time. The factors that influence the rate of diffusion in a social system can be viewed from different angles. Several technologies are identified in agriculture and related sciences. The innovations should have certain attributes as shown in Narayana’s Innovation attributes lotus model for diffusion of technologies by private extension professional as shown in Fig. 2. The four attributes of appropriate innovation are explained below: A. Relative advantage: Relative advantage is the degree to which an innovation is superior to the idea it supercedes. The Relative advantage of an innovation can be explained with seven sub items as follows. 1. Market feasibility: It is defined as the extent of market demand for the product derived out of innovation and also the extent of scope for marketing the product. 2. Market stability: It is defined as the consistency of market price and demand of product derived out of innovation. 3. Cost: This is of two types, initial cost and continuing cost. Initial cost represents the capital investment required for adoption of innovation. Further, Private Extension in India
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(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Market feasibility Market stability Cost Net profit Profit consistency Utility potential Time saving
COMPATIBILITY
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Cultural Social Physical Psychological Situational Relational Anticipated
PRACTIBILITY
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Point of origin Access to advise Visibility Trialability Mastery Demonstrability Communicability
COMPLEXITY
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
Failure probability Discomfort savings Resource complexity Reversibility Work efficiency Congnitive complexity Application complexity
RELATIVE ADVANTAGE
Fig.2: Appropriate attributes of innovation for modern agricultural technologies are shown on the Lotus 114
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the case or inputs required for subsequent years use of innovation if termed as continuing cost. 4. Net profit: It is defined as the quantum of monetary benefit obtained by an individual through adoption of innovation. 5. Profit consistency: This denotes the regularity of net returns obtained by an individual or group of individuals over a period of time by adoption of an innovation. 6. Utility potential: It is defined as the degree to which the multiple use potential of adoption of innovation. 7. Time saving: Indicates the best efficiency of an innovation in terms of saving time in different aspects. B. Compatibility: Compatibility is the degree to which an innovation is consistent with past experiences, existing values, and future plans of the adopters. Compatibility is divided into seven sub groups as follows: 1. Cultural compatibility: Is defined as the degree to which an innovation is consistent with the values and norms of the society. 2. Social compatibility: It denotes prestige gain or esteem by individual in the society through adoption of an innovation. 3. Physical compatibility: Is the degree to which an innovation is consistent and fit into the needs and interests of the adopters? 4. Psychological compatibility: Is innovation usefulness as perceived by the members of the social system. 5. Situational compatibility: Denotes the consistency and harmony of the innovation with previous practices followed by the adopters of innovation. 6. Relational compatibility: It is the degree to which an innovation can be adopted independently by the adopters just like other practices. Private Extension in India
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7. Anticipated compatibility: An innovation should be consistent with the future ideas of the adopter over a period of time. C. Practibility: Practibility is the degree to which an innovation can be easily communicated, tested, demonstrated and practiced in the social system. 1. Point of origin: Indicates the credibility of the source from where the innovation originated. 2. Access to advise: For implementation of innovation, its extent of availability original and detailed information for guidance and clearing doubts that arise while implementing it. 3. Visibility: Is the degree to which the results of an innovation are visible? 4. Trial ability: Is the degree to which new idea can be tried on a small scale? 5. Mastery: Is the degree to which the practice of an innovation could be learned or mastered in a short period of time? 6. Demonstrability: It is the degree to which an innovation can be demonstrated to members of social system easily. 7. Communicability: Is the degree to which the information about the new idea can be diffused to members of the social system easily and speedily. D. Complexity: Complexity is the degree to which an innovation is relatively difficult to understand and use. 1. Failure probability: It is the degree to which an innovation chances of failure and uncertainty of results after its adoption. 2. Discomfort saving: Represents avoidance of physical discomfort may be derived by adoption of an innovation. 116
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3. Resource complexity: Is the degree of difficult in getting the necessary inputs and other resources for the application of an innovation. 4. Reversibility: It is the degree of ease with which the innovation can be replaced in case of its failure for adoption. 5. Work efficiency: Is the degree to which the adoption of new idea saves labour or increase the available labour efficiency. 6. Cognitive complexity: Is the degree to which an extent of relative difficult in understanding an innovation. 7. Application complexity: It is the relative difficulty of an innovations use and application on the farm. The studies conducted in India revealed that utilization of modern agricultural technologies is far from satisfactory in different parts of the country. Hence, there is need for recognition and assimilation of these technologies in such a manner that practical items of value will be produced and disseminated to farmers in an orderly, timely and economic manner. Hence, the professional of private extension organization need to have sufficient know-how of agricultural technologies. Further, at various stages, system demands to select best communication methods and supervise the distribution process to ensure the information reaching to the intended farmers at the specified time.
3.
Developing communication ability, among professionals for effective communication as an approach.
The five elements are important in communication process to motivate farmers towards adoption of modern agricultural technologies like private extension professional, modern agricultural technologies, extension methods, farmers and response. For effective communication, it is crucial that these elements are well balanced, one fitting in to the other. The fault in any one of these elements may lead to break down of the entire process. The perfect balance between these elements, however, is seldom found in actual communication situation. The problem is aggravated by scores of factors operating at each element as Private Extension in India
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determinants of communication effectiveness, the fidelity of the process. Let us now critically examine, what are the factors operating at each of the four major elements of the communication process, to motivate farmers for adoption of modern agricultural technologies. Private extension professional is the person who starts the process of communication. The key factor influencing communication is the communicator himself. The factors affect the Private extension professional effectiveness in communication are like (1) Credibility in the eyes of clientele. i.e expertness and trust worthiness of the extension professional. (2) Cultural and language compatibility of the extension professional with the resident. (3) Private extension professional degree of contact with farmers. (4) Communication skills of the private extension professional. (5) Private extension professional attitude towards the technology and farmers. (6) Role perception of the private extension professional. (7) Empathy of the private extension professional. The modern agricultural technologies should be in line with the objective to be attained, clear and should be in line with the mental, social, economic and physical capabilities of the farmers. Specific, simple, accurate and timely. Appealing, applicable, adequate, and manageable by the farmers. Supported by the factual information, covering both advantages and disadvantages. Extension methods includes all kinds of meetings, radio, books, bulletins, letters, newspapers, tours, telephone, television etc. All these make it possible for an private extension professional to transmit his technology to the intended farmers. The effectiveness of these extension methods depends upon the Private extension professional knowledge of available method, ability to select appropriate method and use them effectively, frequency of use of the method, skills in handling the method, ability to combine different methods, knowledge about the relative effectiveness of the different methods. Farmers determine the effectiveness of the communication in several ways. Some of the factors that determine the effectiveness of communication are like farmers needs and interests, their values, beliefs and perception about the modern agricultural innovation or technologies, their physical, socio-psychological and economic factors, their compatibility with the Extension methods. Response is the terminating element in communication. It is the intended change in the farmer’s viz., change in their knowledge, attitudes, skills, values, beliefs and in their actions. It depends upon the degree to which the four elements in communication 118
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have been effective in playing their role. Then the effectiveness of the communication is dependent upon the faithfulness with which each of the elements have performed their job. Effective communication should help farmers to gain a clear view. It is therefore, the responsibility of private extension professional involved in modern agricultural technologies promotional activities to familiarize themselves with seven orchestrated, concerted, comprehensible in the system of communication to become effective communicators as shown in Narayana’s Wheel Model (Fig. 3).
T
CL
EN
AR
NT
IT
Y
CO
CONT
R
ED
I
BI
CHAN
T LI
C
Y
CAPABILITY
C
EXT
O
N
SI
ST
EN
NELS
CY
Fig.3: Seven orchestrated, concerted, comprehensibles for effective communication are shown on the wheel Private Extension in India
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Credibility: Is the expertness and trustworthiness of the private extension professional Context: Realities of the situation must provide for participation and playback. Content: The content must have meaning for the farmers. Clarity: The message must be clear and simple, words must mean the same thing to farmers as they do to the private extension professional. Channels: Established channels of communication farmers except to be used. Consistency: Communication is an unending process. It requires repetition to achieve penetration, it should be consistent. Capability: This refers to availability, habit, reading ability and farmers knowledge. Effective communication should consist of creating understanding, imparting knowledge and wisdom i.e., knowing some thing is knowledge and using it is wisdom. Private extension professional should always say right things, at the right time, in the right ways, to the right people. Evaluate the effectiveness of modern agriculture technology promotion programmes concurrently at the end of a year. The strong and weak points identified may be considered in revising the subsequent programme. However, private extension can only be effective if it answers to local needs. To achieve this aim a process of extensive consultation with the concerned target group is required the bottom-up process. Within this two-way flow of communication the role of the private extension service is seen as an interface: it has to define target groups and needs to develop the private extension programmes accordingly.
4. Developing entrepreneurship among professional as an approach. Development economy of any nation depends primarily on the important role played by entrepreneurs. In developing countries there are ample opportunities for using innovations to exploit the available resources. Thus more and more focus is being centered on entrepreneurship development of the people. Entrepreneurship has now been recognized as a concept, vital for use of modern 120
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agricultural technologies. Entrepreneurship is a creative and innovative response to the environment. Doing new things or doing things that are already being done in a new way is also a part of entrepreneurial behavior. The entrepreneur is an economic man, who strives to maximize his profits by innovations. However, the entrepreneurs are not simply innovators, they are men with a will to act, to assume risk, and to bring about a change through organization of human efforts. Thus a different orientation is required for use of modern agriculture technology by private extension organizations. Entrepreneurship as a composite variable means that the person possessing entrepreneurial behavior has some specialized characteristics. The entrepreneurship development models of private extension organization in the forth coming period will have to focus on the key role to (1) initiate (2) establish (3) build (4) develop (5) manage (6) supply goods and services and (7) specialize in their own strength. However, Entrepreneurial behavior is too complex a phenomenon to be explained by a single factor. It is a combination of several factors or components. Entrepreneurship has been accepted as a function of several factors. In order to contribute to the development of entrepreneur, a scientific identification of characteristics contributing entrepreneurial personalities, designing mechanism to train such professional on these dimensions, evolving strategies to initiate and motivate them to develop entrepreneurship, testing them for their entrepreneurial prosperity and training them are urgently needed for use of modern agriculture technology by private extension organizations. To promote entrepreneurship among professional, attention so far given is limited in taking several steps to assist professional. Research on the characteristics of professional entrepreneurs is also scanty. The worldwide bibliography on entrepreneurship research reports that studies on the characteristics of entrepreneur (professional involved in agricultural promotion) are very limited. Since some of the characteristics that are based on research from different countries of the world are not cross culturally valid. Hence, the characteristics which distinguish entrepreneurship may not be. Uniform for its different strata. To achieve entrepreneurship among professionals there is a need to train professional to develop seven characters as shown in Narayana’s Wheel Model (Fig. 4). Entrepreneurial behavior is defined as a combination of seven components. Viz., Innovativeness, Decision making ability, Achievement Private Extension in India
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VATIV EN
-O R AB DIN ILI ATI TY NG G TA K I N RISK TY ABILI
ESS
N TY IO ILI S B CI A DE NG I AK
LEADERSHIP ABILITY
M
CO
T EN EM ON EV TI HI VA AC OTI M
INNO
SE INF EK OR IN M G AT AB IO IL N IT Y
Fig.4: Seven orchestrated, concerted, comprehensibles essential for entrepreneurial behaviour are shown on the wheel motivation, information seeking ability, risk taking ability, co-coordinating ability and leadership ability. The combined contribution of the above seven factors to an individual behavior is being expressed in terms of entrepreneurial behavior. The seven components of entrepreneurial behavior are orchestrated, concerted and comprehensible. Further, each Component helps to increase private extension professional efficiency in use of modern agricultural technologies. 1. Innovativeness: The innovativeness was considered as socio-psychological orientation of an individual closely associated with change, adopting new ideas and practices. 122
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Innovativeness as the degree to which an individual adopts new ideas relatively earlier than others in his social system. However, innovativeness in private extension professionals is very essential to motivate farmers for adoption of modern agricultural technologies. 2. Decision making ability: Decision making pattern was considered as the nature of decision making either individually or consulting with others while performing activities. It is the degree to which an individual justifies his selection of most efficient means from among the available alternatives on the basis of scientific criteria for achieving maximum economic profits. Hence, decision making ability is very important among private extension professionals to motivate farmers for adoption of modern agricultural technologies. 3. Achievement motivation: Every man has a desire to achieve certain things in his life. Achievement motivation is considered as the extent to which an individual is oriented towards maximizing profits. Achievement motivation as a social value that emphasizes a desire for excellence in order for an individual to attain a sense of personal accomplishment. So achievement motivation increases efficiency of private extension professionals in use of modern agricultural technologies. 4. Information seeking ability: It refers to the degree of frequency of contact by an individual with various information sources. This is the pattern by which an individual gets his information either on his own seeking or as a consequence of his being a part of the network. This component is important for use of modern agricultural technologies by private extension professionals. 5. Risk taking ability: Some people take more risk, some others take moderate risk and more hesitate to take risk taking ability was considered as the degree which an Private Extension in India
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individual orientation towards risk and uncertainty in adopting new ideas and courage to face the problems. Use of modern agricultural technologies demands ability to take risk by private extension professionals. 6. Co-coordinating ability: In order to complete the required work in stipulated period, an individual has to harmonize and synchronize the various activities for better profit. It is the degree to which an individual co-ordinates action in a time dimension. This ability helps to increase the efficiency of private extension professional in motivating farmers for adoption of modern agricultural technologies. 7. Leadership ability: To get things done properly, an individual has to initiate the action, motivate the followers and decision should be taken. It is the degree to which an individual initiates or motivates the action of the other fellows. Hence, leadership ability is an important component in private extension professional to motivate farmers for adoption of modern agricultural technologies.
5. Training of professional to meet the demands of private extension organization as an approach. It is observed that training is a building process, to reflect this, a good course is organized in ascending order of complexity. Often a test of competence prevents progress to a higher part of the course before the professionals (student) has mastered the contents of a lower one, in this way trainees knowledge and skill can be developed systematically. However, experience gained in training so far indicates that mere development of conceptual understanding and an operational plan based on it may not be adequate. Training has to be made to work. This can happen only when all the three parties involved in training like organization, trainer and trainee — join in their effort and make it to work. An important issue facing us is commitment to training. This is required and it is seldom well realized. Hence, there is
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a need for knowledge of training models to train professionals of private extension organization.
I. A model of the training process: This training process may be a temporary system but the trainer and trainee both learn through various opportunities available for checking their effectiveness. A model of training process for training private extension professional is presented in Fig. 5. This model explains training as an interdependent and interrelated process. Here lot of opportunity is given for independent and intervening variables to become dependent variables. Hence, this model helps to increase the efficiency of private extension professionals.
II. Narayana’s model of the training process to develop competency among Private extension organization professional This is a model for training private extension organization professional. The process of training must start by questioning the basic assumptions, which have governed our training approach. So an analysis of strength, weakness
Private Extension Professionals
Training
Improved Private Extension Professional behavior
Improved training
Feedback
Private Extension Organization
System
Greater Private Extension Organization Effectiveness
Improved private extension organization
Fig.5: A Model of the Training Process for Private Extension Professionals Private Extension in India
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and other things analysis is called for to enable us to have new conceptualization, both of which must be based on farmers needs. Training of private extension organization professional during the new millennium must take into account the needs ‘of broad based agriculture system to induce greater professional competence’ to serve farmers better. The Narayana ‘s model describes seven series of interdependent components functionally linked and incorporated into the total system. 1. Service action: Any training must prepare private extension organization professional for service action in the field. If it does not prepare, it needs immediate reorientation for action. 2. Strategic budget: Many times training strategies overlook the budget provisions. Cost effective training strategies are essential. Hence, use locally available resources in effective ways. 3. Solved content: The curriculum designed should help to solve the problems of clients. Hence, it requires deliberate efforts to develop a training programme with solved content. 4. Securing diligence: Hard work with persistent effort is required for organizing training whether it is need assessment, objective setting, design, implementation or evaluation of training programme. No short-cut method is available for securing better results. 5. Superior extension: Either trainee or a trainer should never forget that the aim of training intervention is to make private extension organization service to perform better, irrespective of the nature of training and participation. 126
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6. Serve farmers: The farmer’s requirements have to get precedence over private extension professional requirements while training. Our motto should be farmer first. 7. Sustained goal: The inner drive, impulse and intention that causes a person to do something in a certain way should be developed in a sustained form to satisfy the needs.
Conclusion There is need for training to develop human resource at various level professionals of private extension organization for efficient use of modern agricultural technologies. During the last five decades of development, growth of developing countries is directly related to their human resource bases. The countries which have given good performance are the countries which have made significant investments in Human Resource Development (HRD). There is an overwhelming evidence that human capital is one of the key factors to reduce poverty in Developing countries. Despite shortcomings in execution of programmes, training continues to secure wide support primarily on the ground of its critical role in HRD. Further, HRD is widely regarded as the single most important resource for faster socio-economic development being attempted in the developing countries. HRD among professionals must find a prominent place in private extension system. In different countries of the world where private organizations have succeeded there HRD was considered as an important component. Hence, HRD among extension professionals is a pre-requisite and often a necessary condition for success of private extension organization. Motivation explains how men are moved without being pushed. A very important aspect of private extension is to motivate people for action after recognizing the needs. Hence, sufficient focus is to be given to this important HRD aspect in private extension system. However, experience in the past has indicated that HRD to enlist participation among extension professionals is often lacking
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in our country as revealed by large number of research and evaluation studies. How it should be done is explained in Narayana’s model of HRD among professionals for privatization of extension in India (Fig. 6). This is a challenge that needs to be tackled immediately.
HRD FOR PRIVATIZATION OF EXTENSION SHOULD BE
HRS
+
HRT
+
HRU
HRD = HR (S + T + U)
HRD = Human Resource Development HRS = Selection of Human Resource HRT = Training of Human Resource HRU = Using of Human Resource profitably Fig.6: Strategies for Human Resource Development are shown on Narayana’s Model of HRD 128
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Private Extension to Transfer Marketing Technologies for Globalization of Indian Agriculture N. Praveen1 , B.K. Narayana Swamy2 and P.C. Ravi3
Rapid increase in production of crops has created numerous marketing problems like high cost of transportation, distant location of markets, delayed cash payments, high commission charges, fluctuation in market price, lack of storage facilities, high loading charges, high interruption of middlemen etc. Hence, farmers must be assured of good price for their produce through good marketing system with proper extension education. Further, the agricultural development programmes in future have to go in hand with better marketing extension education system to overcome the marketing problems of farmers. Shift in consumption pattern, rapid urbanization and increased quality consciousness among consumers, has put enor mous pressure on the agricultural marketing system. An efficient marketing system is pre-requisite for development of sustainable agriculture to necessitate an efficient marketing, planning, especially in the areas of storage, packing, transport, distribution and product standardization. To protect the interest of producers as well as consumers by reducing the number of intermediaries and the regulation of whole range of agricultural marketing activities. A definite change is needed at this juncture for globalization of Indian agriculture, which would require necessar y planning. The planning for dissemination of marketing technologies should help farmers to get a better price for their produce. This in turn helps to motivate them. 1 P.G. Student, Dept. of Agri. Mktg & Co-operative, GKVK 2 Professor of Extension, Staff Training Unit, Directorate of Extension, Hebbal 3 Professor and Head, Dept. of Agri. Mktg. & Co-operative, GKVK University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore, India
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Situation in India India’s comparative advantage in agricultural production arises from the facts that it has one of the world’s largest areas of cultivated land and farming population and has the highest average annual rain fall of 113 cms. It has world’s 2nd largest irrigation system, one of the largest national agricultural research systems with vast resource of highly trained scientific man power. Besides, the climatic in most parts of India farmers grow crops throughout the year. Even though India produces some of world’s best fruits and vegetables our export of these commodities remains limited because of lack of marketing extension. At present, India is 2 nd largest producer of fruits in the world, next to Brazil. It is 2nd largest producer of vegetable in the world after China. It has also become world’s 2nd largest producer of rice sorghum and groundnut, 3rd of wheat, cotton and rape seed, mustard and 7 th of potato. The challenge today is more efficient way of marketing and export potential.
Marketing Extension Research Agricultural research is the fundamental base on which the growth in agricultural production of the country depends, as it generates appropriate technology. Similarly, marketing research generates information, knowledge and technology that only can help to solve the marketing related problems and helps to expand the markets for product diversification to increase production. There is need for identification of markets appropriate like products for market approach, markets for the products approach, market profile, market windows, analysis of rules and regulations, research on harvesting and post harvest handling and processing research. New approach should be evolved by private extension organization to sell the produce in the competitive markets in many countries. Because, the agriculture scene of the country need to undergo multi dimensional change for a variety of reasons.
Need for Private Extension Private extension services are required to guide the farmers for adopting the farming methods according to the market needs and reduce the losses 130
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occurring in marketing. The availability of appropriate and effective marketing extension service is essential for developing farming as it provides signals for their intensification improvement and diversification. This service is being provided in different forms and magnitudes in different countries of the world. Private marketing extension should help farmers to supply the produce at right time, right place, right ways, right quantity and right quality looking to the demands of markets. Unless farmers are able to achieve these, they will be encountering innumerable marketing problems. We should evolve solutions to solve the problems of marketing extension like conceptual constraints, organizational constraints, and implementation constraints so that the emerging challenges can be met. There should be provision for market opportunity information, including price information, technology transfer, forward and backward linkages for increasing market access to farmers and institutional set up for marketing extension. Marketing is crucial for ensuring balanced and continuing development of sustainable agriculture. Though the government and the private sector have made substantial investments in the development of infrastructure and facilities for marketing of agricultural produce, the development of the agricultural marketing system is far below the desired level. Therefore, the need of a private institution to take care of the variety specialized and needs of marketing was realized which would carry out economic and technical feasibility studies and cost benefit analysis in respect of investment made by government and public in agricultural marketing. Private extension should develop a well trained and equipped force of marketing personnel to generate and disseminate knowledge through promotion of applied research on various aspects of agricultural marketing management and policy formulations.
Linking of private extension system The policy implications of government for better marketing of produce should integrate Agricultural extension system with private marketing extension system to transfer post harvest technology to growers, along with effective transport system and good packaging material with reasonable cost. Further, the private extension should intervene by helping to (a) Establish markets (b) Private Extension in India
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Providing cold storage facilities (c) Export produce (d) Opening of processing plants and (e) Launching of support price programmes. Further, there should be a necessary arrangement to lift the small and scattered lots of vegetables and an immediate step should also be taken up to regulate the vegetable trade, should be provide with storage facility, processing units to be initiated to clear the market at remunerative prices during glut period However, providing marketing information to the farmers is an essential ingredient in any economic activity. After the farmers have made decision as what to produce and keep the produce ready for marketing, they have to be guided as where, when, to whom, and at what price level. There is need to educate farmers bout the value of products under competitive conditions. Faulty information on these aspects would lead to errors in decision making, as a result of which the economic conditions of farmers are likely to be affected adversely.
Challenges of Private Marketing Extension System Private marketing extension system has to prepare itself to face seven challenges during this millennium. They are: 1.
Control, accountability and sustainability in marketing
2.
Developing a comprehensive marketing extension policy
3.
Marketing education for targeted clientele to meet the demand
4.
Women extensionists for dissemination of marketing technologies.
5.
Effective communication approach in marketing extension
6.
Strengthening private marketing extension management
7.
Consideration of emerging priorities in private marketing extension system
To make the private extension system more meaningful purposeful and useful for changing global perspective.
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Future Private Extension System There is need for development of efficiently sustainable technologies for processing, value addition, product development, storage and transportation techniques for perishable commodities, intensified efforts on marketing policy research, market intelligence and trade programme mission, centers of excellence, modes of operation for generating new marketing technologies. Obviously, this task would require new approaches and commitment on the part of private marketing extensions system, to create congenial environment for marketing technology generation, to increase export potential of produce in India. This calls for strong and bold policy decisions at highest levels. If conscious efforts are made with proper co-ordination with all concerned. India could very well emerge as major producer and exporter of high quality produce during 21 st century. An essential requirement for this is that country must accelerate the process of marketing and export of the produce. For marketing of agricultural produce throughout the world, there should be an international cargo center. From this center the produce will be sent to the various countries. This cargo center should serve as focal point for exports. In order to safeguard the interest of growers of produce by avoiding distress sale at the time of harvest, the scheme for pledge finance is also a must. Private extension should offer consultancy services to decision markers in various organizations to strengthen the efforts for marketing of agricultural produce. There should be special management services for export-oriented produce to encourage farmers. To promote export of agricultural produce ensuring quality products for importers, compulsory programme of establishment of grading units in marketing should be implemented. The multipurpose activities like agricultural produce pledge loan scheme, installation of grading equipment, modernized digital weighing machines, computers, assistance in development of packing materials, extending transport facilities, providing backup services for export of perishable agricultural produce abroad, establishment of cold storage facilities, and godowns to suit different fruits and vegetable units, food processing units, fruits and vegetable processing units, maturation campus to motivate farmers for production and marketing of produce. Private Extension in India
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Conclusions As we are entered into the 21 st century, it will be increasingly necessary and definitely feasible to take a holistic approach to organize a positive change through private marketing extension that means helping farming people towards in areas, in which have been neglected. It also demands measuring success in terms of their production and success. Perhaps all these realities mentioned are the nucleus of a total private extension system but needs to apply and implement carefully, enable to sustain and meet the challenges of global agricultural marketing economy.
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Privatisation of Extension Services– International Experiences and Its Relevance in Indian Context T. Krishna Prasad1 and Md. Suleman Khan2
The use of terms LPG (liberalization, Privatization, and Globalization) has become very widespread and fashionable now a day everywhere in the world. Now the LPG jargon has now spread to Agriculture sector in different ways also. On the dawn of 21st century, there has been still a dream of sustained development of Agriculture and farming community in India which remains a mere daydream. Agriculture and farming are rapidly changing and evolving a multiplicity of farming production, research and an extension system throughout the world has to meet the challenges posed by information technology revolution. India has to reach the expected levels of production to feed the burgeoning population. Indian Agriculture had long been characterized as subsistence even though we achieved green revolution in mid sixties and seventies and no further tremendous increase in the food grain production levels was observed. India’s agricultural extension system is one of the largest in the world which caters to the needs of more than 100 million farm families out of which the majority are small and marginal farmers. The challenges of extension system are ever increasing due to the diversities in the production systems as our production levels are decreasing and getting complicated with environmental implications. Some of the private companies have developed a wide extension network and had developed a sound R&D in agriculture and won the confidence of the farmers. Many NGOs who are involved in Agriculture are adopting and helping the farmers in advising regarding IPM, IDM and IPNM strategies to the farmers. 1. Research Associate, NAARM, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad - 500 030 2. Research Scholar, Department of Extension Education, EEI, ANGRAU, Hyderabad - 500 030. Private Extension in India
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Concept of Privatization: Privatization is a process that reduces the involvement of state of public sector and brings in divestiture, i.e sole by the state of the whole or part of its holding of the equity share of government owned enterprises to private sector. As the production levels in the irrigated regions have reached a plateaus, it has necessitated to look with more concern at the dry land / rain fed regions to rouse the productivity to meet the food demands of burgeoning population. Effective transfer of farm technology, good with innovations – Sina qua non of a good extension system, would surely help rouse the productivity in the dry land regions. This area of the agriculture scenario should be looked into with more concern to affect a soothing cause for meeting the ever-increasing food demands of alarmingly increasing population. Complete transfer of authority to the private sector may not be the solution to revamp the existing extension scenario, but a blend of public and private sector may, to some extent, provide success. Abroad experiences can certainly be borrowed to strengthen the extension services for designing an alternate and viable model to suit to our conditions.
Australia: In the last few years, according to Cary(1993) five of Australia’s six states have conducted review of extension service delivery provided by their dept. of Agril. In Victoria it, was determined that for government provided services conferring essentially private benefits to individuals it was more desirable & more efficient for private advisers to deliver such services, rather than engage in cost recovery through fee charging by government. This shift to private delivery of extension services was accomplished through ‘out sourcing’ meaning that the government extension agency retained a core pool of extension project staff services for special purposes. The Australian State of Tasmania has the largest experience with fee for service extension activity in the world, having introduced fee based advisory service in 1982. Interviews with departmental staff and farm organizational 136
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leaders revealed that fee – based extension has been an unhappy experience in Tasmania. Implementation of cost recovery policy feel on top of a major restructuring that required field staff to assume roles of greater technical specialization. Field staff reported that they were still trying to gain confidence in their new roles when they were required to charge farmers for their contacts. The fee based service policy in Tasmania also failed to generate significant cost recovery. After 10 years of the policy, fees do not total 5% of annual department revenues.
Newzealand: The labor government in Newzealand went several steps further in 1985 when it required the advisory services of the ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) to become completely commercial by 1990 as the first step to privatization. The final step was planned for July 1, 1992, when MAF management consultancy services was to become a state owned enterprise (SOE) with the government as the initial sole share holder. Newzealand extension system was totally commercialized in 1987. Its MAF now operates in a results oriented, user pay environment. Its previous structure of 10 technically oriented divisions, such as the mat division, the animal health division and the economic division was organized into 4 businesses. These businesses were served, services provided and responsibility for outcome. The four businesses are 1.
MAF Technology
2.
MAF Quality Management
3.
MAF Fisheries
4.
MAF Corporate Services
Ritchie reported that the plan for MAF Management consultancy services to become a SOE on July 1992 has been postponed due to the inability of SOE board to attract sufficient staff with the required qualifications and regional representations. Present plans call for the privatization of local practices (district
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office) which franchises back of MAF. In return for the franchise fee, MAF would supply national generic marketing, marketing to large corporations, quality assurance and administrative systems. However, a backlash from small and medium scale farmers who cannot afford the contractual arrangements demanded by the four extension businesses appears to be creating second thoughts among government officials. It has become clear that the bias of the privatized system is towards larger weather form enterprises, and that small scale farmers have little access to what once was considered a ‘public good’ – agricultural information and transfer. Newzealand’s MAF agriculture advisory service was restructured in 198 to operate under user pay commercial criteria (Hercus 1991) as mentioned earlier. The MAF advisory service, renamed MAF consulting and agriculture Newzealand (now Agriculture Newzealand), remained temporarily a public agency although its employees gave up a no. of public employment benefits and instead receive commissions for received from farmers and contractual arrangement with government for the supply of policy information and rural intelligence to government. By the end of 1994 the MAF consulting services was self-funding. (Agriculture Newzealand). The Newzealand experience is an excellent case study as it involved movement from public funding to commercialization in a five-year period. The capacity to conduct public benefit extension programs no larger exists except as the government may contract with private entities. Again the question of whether a commercial organization can serve the public interest arises and public benefits to extension that cannot be commercialized. This suggests private extension (Private sector delivery of advisory services) cannot completely replace public extension. The prospect of a veterinarian effusing soil-testing as a service for clients might seem odd, but its happening in Newzealand. Privatization of extension services began about 1989, and user-pay is now conventional practice and it is formed that some farmers – sheep and beef producers in particular have
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found paying for advice sometimes unaffordable. Check-offs collected by the Newzealand meat and wool, Dairy boards now finance industry councils to deliver extension services to beef, sheep and milk producers.
The Netherlands: The Netherlands completed in 1990 its first step toward “Going Dutch”. Beginning in 1993, farmers will have to pay an increasing share of the extension services until a share of 50% of total costs is reached in 2003. This decision to privatize representations now exerts more influence on the extension service. Provincial offices for agriculture has been created. This effectively separates extension advice on farm management from the provision of information on governmental policy by provincial offices. Two information and knowledge centers have also been established as a new type of organization for the transfer of knowledge and specialists have been integrated into extension teams in those centers. The privatized DLV (Dutch Extension organization) focuses on supporting farmers’ decision – making in technical & economic matters, while the provincial offices for agricultural affairs work towards acceptance of government policies. The following new structure has emerged (Proost and Roling 1992) 1.
A privatized extension service DLV, a formation with a board of which the seats are equally divided between farmers organization and the government.
2.
Government provincial offices for agricultural affairs, which are to translate government policy to the provincial level.
3.
Government information and knowledge center with liaison offices which are to link the privatized and other (eg. Cooperative & private) extension services.
4.
Experiment stations and regional experimental farms are financed upto 50% by the farmers through various levels and other mechanisms.
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In a nutshell, the Dutch system is being implemented and won’t be fully in place until 2004. Under this system transfer of the responsibility and funding form the public to the private sector has been limited about half of the extension staff, with the remaining half still budgeted & managed by the ministry of Agriculture. The total Netherlands experience can be summed up in the following way. 1.
AAS (Agricultural Advisory Service) was totally financed by the government, but in 1990, the AAS was roughly divided into two parts.
2.
A government organization (IMK) between research institutions and public & private advisory services.
3.
A private advisory service for technical and economic problems.
The financial support to the DLV will decline 5% in each year from 100% in 1991, to 50% in 2002. The private industry has taken the responsibility to finance the other 50%. Their co-responsibility will be realized by a combination of direct charge and compulsory levels.
The United Kingdom: The Agricultural development and advisory service (ADAS) was started in late 1984 to share the benefits of advice & make a direct contribution towards in cost. At the time of introduction of fees for service in 1987, it was decided that there would be no wholesale restructuring of the service. A marketing plan was devised whereby capabilities of ADAS were presented to discreet market segments. If focused a farm management and social-economic advice aimed at a whole farm approach. In 1992, the elevation of ADAS to executive agency status enabled it to operate under a wider range of commercial operations. This includes the development of our internal market for services, improved human resource policies, and enhanced internal and external communications & quality control
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system. There in now an operational infrastructure based on a team approach, which is more in time with the market place. This British System promotes direct payment by users without privatization of extension services. The public agency responsible for research and extension the Agricultural development and advisory service, is responsible for such tasks and relies on government employee to carry out the work. The novelty of British approach in a system of charging for certain services, a time cost basis, that were previously offered free and financial by tax revenues.
Albania: The organizing and structuring of extension service in Albania is guided by a well-formulated extension strategy. The experience of developed and less developed countries and extension theorists do not offer a clear notion of a formal extension policy. Albania has now developed a strategy where public and private extension partnership will be built and they work cohesively and coordinately. Private supply of extension is divided into non-commercial and commercially oriented. The details are given in the table passing from public to a private extension involves a transition period, during which some costrecovery program were applied based on the farmers by income levels and consequent charging high income producers. The organization of an agricultural extension service is tailor made to the specific conditions of Albanian agriculture with greater research linkages. The firm in Albania demand for a “fee-forservice” extension depends on many factors such as income levels, price of the service, type and the number of farmer, farmers attitude, infrastructure, Government-policies, land tenure arrangements. The farmers’ decision to pay for new information depends on the expected net benefits generated in the form of higher income. (Daker, 1999).
Canada: The changing fare of agricultural extension fees more focused government investment in services that reflect economic realities and demand highly technical globally relevant and regionally specific information. In Canada also the day Private Extension in India
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of the free extension meeting is fast disappearing and cost recovery is becoming more and more important for the programs being delivered. The public private partnership is on the rise by the following ways. a.
Agricultural and Agricultural-Food Canada’s Research branch has closed some stations and consolidated the experts of its staff. Under a new collaborative partnership with private industry, the branch will match R&D funds that could inject up to $70 millions annually into projects targeted at improving food safety, developing new products and markets and enhancing environmental sustainability.
Rob Mchavghhin, Dean of Ontario Agricultural College at University of Guelph had said that individuals employed by industry are trust-worthier. Farmers drive own research: Now, the farmers became more competitive those who farm for their own livelihood are prepared to invest in seminars and technology transfer programs but demanding an investment add value to their enterprises. In response to the closure of the Fredericton research station, for example New Brunswick dairy farmers have created Atlantic dairy forage institute which now operates a 250 acre research farm under lease quota system and conducting a contracted Research and extension specific to the needs of the dairy producers in Atlantic Canada. Industry’s role in extension: Westco Fertilizers employed 17 highly trained Agronomic Crop Enhancement Specialists (ACES) throughout the canada to provide technical support to retailers and farmers and it also worked with the Canadian fertilizer industry to introduce the International certified crop advisor (CCA) program. Westco’s role in delivery of extension services reflects its corporate responsibility to agriculture and their belief to have an obligation to society and to farmers
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to ensure that can demonstrate good standard of knowledge on the products they sell and more responsible enough to carry the load in disseminating the information to farmers. Information “round the clock”: Now Internet had become one of the potential tools of extension efforts. According to Argus Reid studies, 1.
Farmers are one of the fastest growing groups of internet users in Canada
2.
14% of the farmers are currently Internet users compared to 25% for the general population.
Russia The sustainable Agribusiness Support Project (SASP) marks the first stage of Russia’s plan to create a nationwide network of extension services for private farmers. It is a two-year project promoting sustainable agricultural techniques in seven Russia’s ministry of Agriculture, which contributes facilities and consultants at each extension center. Why is SASP is needed in Russia? •
Russia’s private agricultural producers and processors are barely surviving and they desperately need information and consultations to succeed and prove the viability of private agriculture.
•
Sustainable agricultural techniques are especially needed due to Russia’s economic and environmental conditions which include
•
Unavailability and high prices of external inputs
•
Polluted soils and exhausted fertility due to chemical intensive agriculture
The project was implemented in seven Russian regions such as Sergiev Posad, Vsevolozhsk(near St. Petersburg), Krasnodar, Penza, Arzamas (near
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Nizhniy Novgorod), Kolomna, and Lipetsk. Each Extension Center is hosted and makes use of resources provided by the local agricultural college or teknikum Forms of assistance provided by SASP •
Business advice - farm management, market research and development, farm accounting, business plan development, cooperative formation, contract negotiation and conclusion.
•
Legal advice - on farm enterprise registration, cooperative formation, taxation issues, and land leasing.
•
Technical advice - crop and seed selection, crop rotations, pest and weed management (including IPM), reclamation, soil improvement and regeneration, and farm system integration to conserve resources and protect the environment.
•
Monthly newsletters on topics of interest to local farmers.
Partners in CCI’s Project and achievements CCI works closely with Russia’s Ministry of Agriculture (Department of Middle Level Colleges), which provides facilities and a cadre of qualified consultants in all seven regions. The Extension Centers also work closely with Scientific-Methodological Centers at each of the hosting colleges to research low-input agricultural techniques appropriate for local conditions and crops. SASP is guided by local “farmers’ councils,” which help determine the types of educational programs and assistance offered by each Extension Center. In 1994, CCI helped project partners in Sergiev Posad, Russia create the first Russian Extension service focused on sustainable agriculture. Upon seeing the tremendous successes of this work, Russia’s Ministry of Agriculture appealed to CCI to help establish these services throughout Russia. CCI has also helped Russian partners create a second, independent Extension Service, which is currently serving agricultural entrepreneurs near St. Petersburg.
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Administration and Supervision of Agricultural Technology Transfer and Generation in Honduras (1998-2002) This Inter-American Development Bank-funded project supports the Government of Honduras in transferring public sector agricultural development efforts to local government and private sector management. A loan by the IDB to the Government of Honduras establishes a $14 million fund (GTTA Fund) for the privatization of agricultural extension, training and research services. The loan supports new laws decentralizing and privatizing the Honduran agricultural sector. The program will provide funding, in the form of progressively decreasing subsidies, to farmer organizations for contracting private sector extensionists for technical, business and marketing advice. Members of SNITTA (National System for Agricultural Technology Transfer) are eligible to apply for funds for agricultural and farming research and training programs. Research agendas and results will be linked to the extension program. ARD established the Project Administration Unit (UAP), which is responsible for administering the operational aspects of the GTTA Fund. ARD’s strategy seeks to decentralize some UAP functions through a combination of field supervisors based in regional offices of DICTA and use of private sector consultants for special studies. The UAP has signed contracts with several private-sector service providers to assist small commercial growers with production and marketing problems. Requests for proposals have been published and more contracts will be executed, giving the project national coverage. Technology Transfer and the Role of Extension in Modern Agriculture: Evidence from California, USA California agriculture is changing as more and more food production value is added by input manufacturers and food processors. The industry is increasingly industrialized, with greater product differentiation and knowledge intensity. It is on the brink of intensive adoption of biotechnology and precision technologies. Given the emerging organizational and technical configuration of agriculture, systems of research, technology transfer and education must be analyzed and Private Extension in India
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updated distinct and complementary roles of Extension and University Offices of Technology Transfer (OTT), two critical components of contemporary agricultural innovation systems. Following the model of the medical sciences, OTT attempt to sell rights to develop university-generated patents to private sector companies and facilitate alliances between researchers and venture capitalists to form startup companies that pioneer new technologies. However, this technology transfer process is much slower in agriculture than in medicine, and the large multinationals may play a more significant role in the evolution of agricultural biotechnologies than they played in medical biotechnology. The OTT is a new entity relating the university to technology producers. Extension is an old institution that relates to technology users. With the emergence of private consultants, studies show that Extension agents became wholesalers that served consultants, who in turn serve the farmers. Extension also became a source of objective evaluation of new technologies and provided services in adapting new technologies to local conditions. In some areas of Extension activities, emphasis shifted from production towards addressing environment impact and providing expertise in mediation between the agricultural community and other sectors. As farmers and the other clientele of Extension become more educated, it may make sense to consolidate county resources and invest more capacity and resources in campus-based specialists, who would interact directly with some of the clientele.
Philippines A recent study on decentralization of extension services in the Philippines (Malvicini et al., 1996) found, however, that “Most upland farmers go about their business unaffected by changes in a system that, historically, has not adequately met their needs”. A series of recommendations resulted from the study that are intended to improve local extension including the formation of partnerships based on collaboration among extension units, NGOs, peoples’ organizations, and universities among others; training for “devolved” extension agents to help shift them from centralized to community-based approaches; operationalization of decentralization through special representative bodies and 146
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councils so that farmers can participate in local decision making; and strong linkages with regional and national offices of the Department of Agriculture to facilitate information and knowledge sharing. An important question that remains to be answered is whether decentralized extension serves the needs of small-scale, resource-poor farmers. According to the Philippines study, to do so will require a “multi-sectoral collaborative approach” that includes community-based partnerships. In this regard, Rivera (1996) observes that “To date, the centrist tradition in developing countries has inhibited self-reliance and the development of civil institutions at the community level, two elements that are critical for the smooth functioning of decentralized local administrations”. This strongly suggests that for decentralized extension to be effective requires efforts to strengthen local-level intermediary organizations, especially those that represent the interests of poor farmers.
Belarus ACDI/VOCA opened its office in Minsk and began sending technical assistance volunteers to Belarus in the spring of 1993. The objective of the ACDI/VOCA program in Belarus is to promote the development of private agribusiness and other support systems for private farmers. ACDI/VOCA accomplishes this objective by providing American volunteer consultants to work with the people of Belarus involved in agricultural related activities. Through its technical advisory services, ACDI/VOCA works with local enterprises and organizations to enable them to succeed as the country makes the transition to a market economy. Client organizations include a broad spectrum of agricultural enterprises from those involved in production and processing, to the marketing and distribution of food. Using the highly skilled technical assistance of volunteer experts, ACDI/VOCA programs in Belarus support: 1.
Agricultural Entrepreneurs: ACDI/VOCA strengthens the challenged small and medium—sized private agribusiness enterprises by helping them to develop business plans and operating strategies in order to compete with the large-scale state farming system;
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2.
Agricultural Reform and Privatization: ACDI/VOCA promotes agricultural privatization and reform at the grassroots level. ACDI/VOCA volunteers work on farm association and cooperative development, transformation of state and collective farms, and in public education in the area of agricultural reform; and,
3.
Rural Environmental Improvement: ACDI/VOCA promotes sound environmental practices in rural areas by addressing water quality, food safety, organic farming, and forestry management issues.
By working at the private enterprise level, ACDI/VOCA anticipates improvements in the quality of products and services will return an increased profit back to the private enterprise and its employees. One such organization is the nonprofit Gomel Center for Human Resource Development - ORACUL. ACDI/ VOCA and ORACUL have collaborated on three successful volunteer technical assistance activities. Beginning in 1994, ORACUL applied to ACDI/VOCA for technical assistance in designing a public opinion survey that obtained information from about 500 private farmers across Belarus. Given the past successful collaborative efforts between ACDI/VOCA-Belarus and ORACUL, the staff of ACDI/VOCA expects to maintain, if not increase, its future level of cooperation with ORACUL in assisting the private farmers and entrepreneurs of Belarus. ACDI/VOCA was created by the consolidation of Agricultural Cooperative Development International and Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance in 1997. The organization has more than 60 years of combined experience in 110 countries.
Romania Agricultural Support Services Project Appraisal involved the development of a contestable adaptive research process and the pilot evaluation of private sector extension initiatives, including the establishment of an Adaptive Research and Extension Board, having a majority producer/processor representation, to 148
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Table 1: A variety of experiences with Privatization and commercialization Country
Case
Newzealand
Complete commercialization of public extension
The Netherlands
Cost recovery from users
Germany
Complete, semi, subsidized privatization and voucher system
Denmark
Extension services rendered by farmer’s organization
China
Contracting of SMSs by farmer groups
Ecuador
Share cropping between farmers and extension staff for a profit
Costa Rica
Voucher system
Chile
Sub contracting and voucher system
Ethiopia
Privatized service centres
Turkey
Cost sharing of advisors
Kenya
Extension associated with contract out grower schemes
guide the research and extension development processes. A Lincoln International consultant reviewed agricultural research programmes and developed an adaptive research manual to guide a contestable adaptive research process; identified priority adaptive research activities; prepared a draft Ministerial Order to establish a Research/Extension Management Board; and prepared full project costs using the COSTAB format in October – November 1998
Moldava GFA began a pilot project in Moldova in 1995 based on the participation of farmers in the restructuring and privatization of their collective farms. During the first privatization cycle in 1996, about 25,000 ha of farmland were distributed to about 10,000 individuals from the local villages. Assets were sold to repay debts, social infrastructure was transferred to the municipality and the remaining assets were distributed to the former workers who reorganized into individual farmers, small farmers associations and family based groups of farmers. The land that was given to the farmers were regularly inspected for any pest and disease attack and advised the farmers on new technologies. Private Extension in India
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Lessons learned from a century with public extension system are many and diverse. Under the Indian context, the crucial issues to be looked into to ability of the farmers to pay for extension as private and public. In India, more than 70% of the operational holdings are small and marginal (with < 2ha). The ability of the farmers to pay for the extension services is very poor. This becomes a big blunder in rainfed areas than irrigated areas. It is not necessary at present to give subsidies for big farmers in the irrigated areas for some of inputs like seeds, fertilizers, etc. Development of Agriculture in India has now reached a stage where more emphasis has to be placed on drylands / rainfed areas for national food security. So in order to make agricultural extension system in India more of an information delivery system than information acquisition system, it is not necessary for the government to subsidize all its extension services to farmers who can pay. The cost recovery system can be made possible in high value crops. In order to augment the present system into a demand driven and commodity based specialized approach, necessary extension policy and strategies have to be made. So, in this paper after analyzing the extension systems prevailing in different countries, a hypothetical model was presented and the salient features are as follows
Salient features 1.
Collaborative integration of various agencies in Agricultural extension i.e. public-private partnership should be made compulsory.
2.
The policy should be designed from grassroots levels to the top levels of agricultural extension machinery.
3.
At each mandal level, the State Department of Agriculture, SAUs, Research and Extension system, Cooperatives, NGOs, Cooperative Credit Societies, Nationalized and Private banks, Commodity boards/ Marketing committees and personnel from private sector companies should represent and form into a ADC (Agricultural Development Committee) and should work cohesively towards the transfer of location specific technologies.
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4.
The private companies (input companies) should be made compulsory to adopt villages on a rotation basis for providing better extension advisory services and be monitored by ADC.
5.
The ICAR and SAUs Research systems should be encouraged to develop their research infrastructure through private R & D collaborations.
Cooperatives
Nationalized &Private Banks
Input Supply companies
Commodity Boards
ICAR
SAU
STATE DEPT.OF AGRICULTURE
SADC
DADC
MADC
VADC
FARMER
Fig.1. Diagrammatic model showing public- private partnership in extension Private Extension in India
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6.
Extension alone cannot be privatized with privatization of Research on collaborative basis.
7.
Encouraging the private sector in establishing information Kiosks for efficient advisory services through Internet and GIS packages.
8.
Encouraging privatization of Seed, soil and bio-control labs where personnel inadequate.
9.
Reward Management.
10. The public extension personnel involved in improving the production and productivity levels should be encouraged with incentives and career promotional programmes in their respective areas of operation. 11. Encouraging private sector and commodity boards investment partnerships in public research system. 12. Establishing a village, mandal, district and state level Agricultural development monitoring committees for effective and efficient implementation of the new agricultural developmental programmes. 13. Apart from nationalized bank, cooperative banks and private corporate bank must recruit professional personnel for advisory services to augment the institutional credit support.
References Andrew Kidd, John Lamers & Volker Hoffmann.1998. Towards pluralism in Agricultural extension –A growing challenge to the public and private sectors.v Agriculture and rural development 1(98) 7-10. Cary, J. W. 1993. Changing foundations for government support of agricultural extension in economically developed countries Rural Sociology 33(3/4) 334-345. Daku Lefter. 1999. Investing In Agricultural Extension: The Case of Albania PDF thesis submitted to West Virginia Tech university USA. 152
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Haug, R.1999. Some Leading issues in international Agricultural extension, a literature review The Journal of Agricultural education and extension 5(4) 263-274. Hercus, J. M. The commercialization of government agricultural extension services in Newzealand in W.M. Rivera and D.J.Gustafson (Eds), Agricultural Extension: World wide Institutional Evolution and Forces for change. Amsterdam; Elsevier. Malvicini, P.G. et al. 1996. Decentralization of Agricultural Extension in the Philippines: Forming Community-Based Partnerships. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. Marsh, S. P.D. J. Pannell, 1999. Agricultural Extension policy and practice in Australia: An over view The Journal of Agricultural education and extension 6(2)83-91. Proost, j N. Roling, 1991. Going Dutch Interpaks Interchange 9(1) 5-6. Rivera, W.M. 1996. Agricultural Extension in Transition Worldwide: Structural, Financial and Managerial Strategies for Improving Agricultural Extension. Public Adminstration and Development. Vol. 16, 151-161. Rivera, W.M. 1997. Agricultural extension into the next decade. European journal of Agricultural Education and Extension 4(1)29-38.
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