1Associate Professor, Dept. of Extension Education, Faculty of Agriculture, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat, Assam
2 Dean, Post Graduate Studies, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhalgalpur, Bihar
Online published on 14 November, 2017.
After getting mixed results from Training and Visit system of extension India reforms the extension system by introducing Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA). One of the major focuses of the scheme is to provide extension support to a group of farmers rather than to individual farmers. Under such situation the role of extension personnel is also changed. The Policy Framework for Agricultural Extension (PFAE) mentioned that the role of extension personnel has now become a group facilitator rather than an expert. Therefore, an understanding of the level of facilitation skills of the extension personnel under the new situation will go a long way in accelerating the process of developing agriculture. Therefore, building capacity of extension functionaries as facilitator is urgently needed to make the reforms effective. Attitude is the foundation of facilitation skills. If we know the attitude of the extension personnel towards facilitation than it is becoming easier for us to develop them as facilitators. But no scale was readily available for measuring the attitude of extension personnel on facilitation. Therefore, a scale was developed specifically for the purpose by following Likert technique. For developing the attitude scale, initially 55 items were developed on the basis of study of available literature and informal discussion with experts and extension personnel. Finally 20 items with the largest't ’values were selected for the attitude scale. The Cornbach alpha reliability of the scale was found at 0.76.
Facilitation, attitude scale, extension personnel, ATMA
