ICT, the way forward for farm extension

The contribution of agricultural extension — the mechanism of transferring scientific knowledge to farmers — to production ranges from around 17 per cent in paddy to 40 per cent in commercial crops, said S. Ayyappan, Director-General of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), on Sunday.

With only 30 to 60 per cent of farm technologies reaching farmers, the role of farm extension had never been more important to the agricultural sector, Dr. Ayyappan said. He was delivering the valedictory address at the international conference on ‘Extension educational strategies for sustainable agricultural development’ at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.

‘Greatest challenge’

While scientific and technological innovations had been significant in the area of agriculture, communicating these to farmers had been the greatest challenge to farm extension workers, he said. “There are 60 crore farmers to be reached, and countless languages involved.”

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Adapted from The Hindu