Experts call for convergence of rural job scheme with agriculture

A national conference of experts in agricultural extension has called for convergence of the rural job guarantee scheme (NREGA) with agriculture where extension can play a key role in identifying the skills on various activities of farming.

It also called for strategic extension planning for intensification and diversification of farmers for doubling their income. It has recommended intense use and application of information and communication technology (ICT) and social media in extension services to facilitate quick and effective communication between stakeholders.

The three-day conference, which was held recently at the Prof Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU), was attended by about 300 stakeholders. The conference came out with a set of recommendations for revitalising agricultural extension services in the country to improve productivity and the lot of farmers. These recommendations will be submitted to relevant agencies, departments and governments for follow-up action. It called for development of models for location specific farming system innovations by Krishi Vigyan Kendras and other research and development agencies for small scale farms. These models can later be scaled up to more locations.The conference wanted the governments to promote R&D centres in State Agricultural Universities with a nodal centre at the Hyderabad-based MANAGE (a national centre for Management of Agricultural Extension).

“Extension should encourage organic and natural farming by promoting eco-friendly technologies. It should help farmers reduce the cost of cultivation and increase the quality of output to be competitive in the market,” it said.The recommendations include a suggestion to deploy remote sensing and GIS applications in extension for linking farmers with market through e-bazars for realising better prices.

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