Mr. Vijay Kolekar will present his APs as per the detail below:
Date: 30th September 2024
Time: 1700 - 1830 hrs.
Venue: AMAT Conference Room
Title: Agriculture Extension Services in Maharashtra: Study of Challenges and Ways for Improvement
Guide: Prof. Bakul Rao
Co-Guide: Prof. Parmeshwar Udmale
RPC Members: Prof. Priya Jadhav, Prof. Sarthak Gaurav
Abstract:
The current research work titled "Agriculture Extension Services in Maharashtra: Study of Challenges and Ways for Improvement" is being conducted with the objectives to review extension services of Government of Maharashtra keeping Agriculture Assistant at the centre, and to explore ways to improve the current extension services. During current APS, the focus of the study was to analyse the duties, responsibilities, constraints during extension services by the Agriculture Assistants and to understand the expectations of the farmers and FPCs After the implementation of T & V and ATMA pattern for improved extension, the Government of Maharashtra has adopted 'One Window System' which is an innovative system of agriculture extension and service delivery through a single person at village level since 1998. Agriculture Assistant is backbone of the restructured extension system, and they provide services related to the extension, horticulture development , soil and water conservation, quality assurance of inputs. The farmers' needs are increasing day by day with rise in issues in farming owing to climate change, natural calamities, market fluctuations and consumer demands. Considering the nature of tasks mandated for the Agriculture Assistants, a method to calculate Workload Index (WI) is suggested. The WI is calculated based on the work done by the Agriculture Assistant during a specified period. The advance in digital agriculture is helping the Agriculture Assistants while delivering the services in better manner. The respondents are using MAHADBT, CROPSAP, CCE, FFS, PoCRA-DBT, PoCRA-MLP applications. The respondents have admitted that the traditional priorities for dissemination of technologies do not match the preferences of the farmers. An analysis of constraints , show overall job delivery was done by using Garrett ranking method. Ordinal Logistic Regression model is used to analyse the factors influencing the satisfaction level of Agriculture Assistants. The regression reveals that age, education level, and extension training positively influence job satisfaction among Agriculture Assistants, while longer years of service and being male negatively impact satisfaction. The respondent farmers in Beed and Wardha district still have trust in Agriculture Assistants for extension. The farmers avail the benefits of schemes, get crop insurance during crop losses, get skills about technologies, and receive advisory on pest and diseases. The farmers perceive that there is positive impact of the advices and information received through the extension services of the Agriculture Assistants such as adoption of new technologies, an increase in production, increase in income and reduction of cost of production. The farmers expected the Agriculture Assistants to increase the visits the jurisdiction and enhance quality of communication, and transfer knowledge about modern technologies with low cost.