1ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab, India
2National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management, Rajendra Nagar-500 030, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
3ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa-110 001, New Delhi, India
4ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla-171 001, Himachal Pradesh, India
5Division of Agricultural Extension, Krishi Bhavan-1, ICAR, Pusa-110 001, New Delhi, India
*Corresponding Author: Rajesh K. Rana, ICAR-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute, Ludhiana-141 004, Punjab, India, Email: rajesh.rana@icar.gov.in
Online Published on 3 January, 2024.
The agricultural extension system in India has the daunting task of serving about 146.45 million farm families. Public extension systems comprising KVKs, ATMA, State Line Departments, SAUs and ICAR Institutes have been playing a pivotal role in extending extension services; of late, private players like input companies, credit and insurance firms, Corporate Social Responsibility units, NGOs, farmers’ associations (FBOs/FPOs) and commodity boards (Rubber, Coffee, etc.) have made a significant impact in this area. Despite such a vast network of public and private extension agencies, there is a wide gap in service delivery and extension education interventions. All these extension agencies have their strength and weaknesses but also hold promising dynamism for future challenges. As agricultural extension will be a very important determinant of future agricultural growth, the assessment of SWOT analysis of different extension agencies engaged in delivering extension services in India is imperative.
Critical review, Extension agencies, Extension system, SWOT analysis
