Strengthening Agri-Extension for a Strong Farm Sector

Opinion piece by Dr Himanshu Pathak, Director General, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and President, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)

07 November 2025, New Delhi: The history of agricultural extension in India is quite rich. The beginning was marked by early efforts such as the Etawah Pilot Project (1948) and the Community Development Program (1952), both of which formed the base for planned extension. Subsequently, a host of large programs structured the system, viz., the Intensive Agricultural District Program (1960), the National Demonstrations (1964-65), the High-Yielding Variety Program (1965-66), the Operational Research Projects (1974-75), the Training and Visit Program (1974), the Lab to Land Project (1979) and the National Agricultural Extension Project (1983). The launch of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) in 1974 was a landmark, bringing into the fold the Institutions of on-farm testing and vocational training.

In recent years, programs like Farmer FIRST (Farm, Innovation, Research, Science and Technology), Mera Gaon Mera Gaurav (MGMG), ARYA (Attracting and Retaining Youth in Agriculture), NARI (Nutri-Sensitive Agricultural Resource and Innovation), VATICA (Value Addition and Technology Incubation Centre in Agriculture), and KSHAMTA (Knowledge Systems and Homestead Agriculture Management in Tribal Areas) have stretched the extension function towards participatory, inclusive, and technology-based paradigms. This shift is in response to repositioning extension in the face of a transforming agricultural and socio-economic environment and to meet diverse information needs of the farmers and other stakeholders.

Constraints in the Agricultural Extension System

During the Green Revolution and thereafter, extension services played a crucial role in transferring improved technologies, empowering farmers and enhancing their skills, thereby increasing food production and making India self-sufficient. Agricultural extension, however, has not received due attention, particularly from the state governments, during the last two decades.

The present-day agricultural extension system is constrained by structural and operational challenges. One of the pressing issues is the severe under investment in extension services, which has stagnated at merely 0.12–0.16% of agricultural GDP over the past two decades. This limited financial support has resulted in critical gaps in infrastructure, human resource development, and capacity building.

Some of the major constraints are:

• Limited manpower, around 0.12 million extension professionals employed in India, as against China’s 7.13 million.
• Low extension worker-to-farmer ratio below 1:5000, as against the National guideline of 1:1100 in irrigated, 1:750 in rainfed and 1:400 in Hilly areas.
• Lack of coordination between public institutions, private sector, and civil society organizations, resulting in fragmented efforts and overlapping activities.
• Insufficient feedback between research and extension systems at the field level, leading to disconnect between innovation and the needs of farmers.
• Over-reliance on KVKs (731) for transferring technology, while other extension agencies at the state, district, block, and village levels are underutilized. ​

Repurposing Agricultural Extension

Traditionally, agricultural extension has been production centric. In changing landscape, focus should shift to a more holistic agri-business model that includes value addition, food processing, branding and access to better markets. In view of this, the modern agricultural extension must focus on:

• Smallholder and marginal farmers, ensuring inclusion and equity.
• Promotion of sustainable and climate-smart agricultural practices.
• Market-oriented, value chain-based, and export-driven advisory services.
• Strengthening of agri-business literacy, food processing, branding, and market access.
• Integration of service providers, agro-industries, and exporters into the extension framework.

Restructuring Agricultural Extension

A paradigm shift is required to restructure the agricultural extension system to meet the diverse needs to make farming more productive, sustainable, climate-resilient, market-driven, and export-oriented. Many innovations succeed locally but fail to expand beyond their pilot phase due to institutional silos, inadequate coordination, and the absence of enabling policy and financing frameworks. Furthermore, rapid changes in markets, climate, and technology demand a more adaptive and networked extension approach that can respond dynamically to farmers’ evolving needs.

Several institutional innovations have emerged in response to these limitations, indicating the gradual development of an agricultural innovation system in India. Scaling up and scaling out these innovations are crucial for enabling agricultural extension to effectively facilitate knowledge generation, access, and transfer across regions. A robust agricultural extension policy is essential to ensure convergence within the pluralistic system and to establish mechanisms and frameworks for stakeholder coordination.

The existing extension system needs complete upgradation, and the following key actions are suggested:

1. Strengthening Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs): Provide a uniform administrative structure for KVKs, expand their mandate to cover the entire agri-food system, and establish block-level agricultural extension offices. Each KVK demonstration has been found to benefit nine additional farmers, and the benefit-cost ratio of investment in KVKs ranges between 11 and 12. The KVKs should assume specific role of Agri-Clinic in single window delivery approach through public-private partnership for enhancing its outreach through production of seeds, planting materials, livestock materials, fingerlings, value-added products, publications, prototypes of small implements, etc.
2. Integrated Digital and Data-Driven Advisory: Facilitate digital and data-driven decision-making by leveraging artificial intelligence, remote sensing, and mobile platforms. Implement virtual KVKs for expanding outreach and allowing farmers to access customized advisories on weather, soil health, and pests. KVKs should also create and maintain district-level database and identify district-specific needs, primary and secondary factors/biotic and abiotic causes of each prioritized problem and plan for appropriate interventions.
3. Research-Extension Linkages: Encourage synergy between research and extension through enhancing the feedback mechanisms and propagating “Science of Discovery to Science of Delivery” paradigm. Situate technology adoption behavior at the household level and secure impact studies of extension tools and approaches.
4. Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs): Build strong collaboration between government, private sector, and civil society. Encourage joint demonstrations, shared use of laboratories and fields, digital agro-advisories, and training programmes on precision and climate-smart agriculture.
5. Policy and Institutional Reforms: Reform the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA), foster youth-centric entrepreneurship, and assist agri-startups in ensuring market-led extension. Establish a national cadre of professional extension advisors and enhance financial provisions for state and district-level extension operations.
6. Capacity Building and Human Resource Development: Continuous capacity building of extension personnel and strong partnerships with academia and the private sector will ensure up-to-date knowledge flow. Besides, strengthen State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institutes (SAMETIs) and Extension Education Institutes (EEIs) for continuous professional development of extension personnel and encourage participation of women & youth in extension services.
7. International Learning: Learn lessons from the best practices followed in different parts of the world to restructure our extension model. For example, in the United States of America, it is decentralized and research-driven, whereas in China, it is integrated and public-funded. In Israel, it is high-tech and farmer-centric, whereas in Australia, it is decentralized and market-driven. Compared to these models, the Indian extension is supply-driven, with a limited feedback mechanism to the research system.

The future of agricultural extension in India lies in unlocking its potential through increased investment, effective coordination, and innovative service delivery. A restructured and repurposed extension ecosystem will enable Indian agriculture to achieve higher productivity, profitability, and sustainability. This transformation aligns with the vision of “Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment, and Better Life,” as endorsed by the FAO and echoed in the NAAS framework for an aspiring India by 2047.

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