Dissemination of technologies through techno agents in horticulture

The extension agent to farmer ratio in the country is very wide. So this project is aiming at development of techno agents who can disseminate the technology in their locality. Sixty eight techno agents have been developed from 5 districts of Karnataka. As a first step Participatory Rural Appraisal was conducted to identify the reasons for low productivity in horticulture. The most important reason ranked by farmers for low productivity in horticulture was lack of knowledge of new low cost technologies, followed by lack of knowledge on diagnosis of symptoms of pest & disease attack and nutrient deficiency, lack of knowledge on Integrated Disease Management practices, lack of knowledge on Integrated Pest Management practices, lack of knowledge on Integrated Nutrient Management practices. Other factors contributing to low productivity were dependence on local pesticide dealers for pesticide recommendations, incorrect spraying techniques and timing of spraying, incorrect usage of chemicals, lack of knowledge about use of bio-pesticides and biofertilizers & their non availability locally. Based on these findings, a programme was devised to train the techno agents through different means like training, demonstrations, group meetings etc. The techno agents developed are conducting meetings and demonstrating technologies on their own. From the results it is apparent that the technoagents are effective in dissemination of technologies in areas where formal extension system has not been able to make much dent. Since the techno agents are from the local social system itself, farmers of the region are comfortable in following them.