Training need of farmers for value chain development of IARI variety of Paddy crop

India has achieved self-sufficiency in food production and has established itself as an exporter of various agricultural commodities at the global stage. But increase in the production of food crops has not ensured similar increment in the income of the farmers. This may be attributed to the fact that major focus has always been given to production only. But, the need of the hour is to empower the farmers in other aspects of farming such as value addition, marketing, and formation of producer groups etc. to realise a higher return. So, the present study was proposed to find out the skills and competencies of farmers to strengthen the value chain for IARI variety of paddy i.e. by enhancing the efficiency from production of inputs to marketing of their produce for the crop paddy, commercial variety Pusa Basmati 1121. To assess the skills and competencies a training need index was developed. And it was found that the training need was high in the areas of optimum use of plant protection chemicals and fertilisers, production of green manures, soil health management, formation of farmer’s organisations. The training need was quite low in the post-harvest management activities. The training need for different commodities can be different, but the results of the study may be considered to get some meaningful insight regarding the training needs in the area of value chain development. Moreover, the identified areas may be given due consideration while formulating policies, so that farmers can upgrade themselves to better value chain and earn more income.