Extent of Farmers ’Satisfaction from Agricultural Extension Services in Maharashtra

Present study was conducted to assess the satisfaction level of farmers ’with extension services provided to them and to discover the areas of improvement. It was conducted in two districts of Maharashtra that included a random sample of 320 farmers representing two regions i.e. Western Maharashtra and Vidarbha, as the major area of these regions are under irrigation and rainfed condition, respectively. The empirical results revealed that extension officers hardly consider farmers ’participation in decision making and ask their opinion, unable to keep their promises, unable to treat all farmers fairly and equally, difficult to contact and always not available at the time of need. They were not pleased on many aspects of the service and also disappointed from the present public sector extension organizations that leads to moderate level of satisfaction. Overall satisfaction of farmers ’from extension services considering all selected four districts of Maharashtra, the overall mean perception score of 2.22 indicates the modest level of satisfaction. The farmers ’satisfaction index for Maharashtra ranged from 25 to 100, with an average 55.49. Hence, the concentration of government organisations providing extension service need to optimize future extension programs and delivery systems with an improvement in satisfaction of farmers.