Dr. Banarsi Lal & Dr. Pawan Sharma
India is a land of villages and most of the people residing in the villages are farmers. Agriculture is the major occupation of the people and around 60 per cent of the population is directly associated with agriculture. Agricultural development is helpful for the overall growth and development of the country. Agriculture is the mainstay of the people as it provides employment to more than half of the population of the country. This sector contribution signifies the dependency of the country on agriculture. The green revolution increased the agricultural production of the nation and India became self-reliant in many agro-commodities. But a lot is needed to improve the condition of the farmers as they are really the backbone of the country. Judicious use of land is necessary to mitigate the growing needs of the increasing population by keeping the sustainability of soils, ecosystems and environment in view.
The Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) also known as Farm Science Centers, a gross root level scheme which was designed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) in the country. In 1964-66, the Education Commission of Government of India under the chairmanship of Dr.D.S.Kothari gave recommendations for the application of science to productive process including agricultural education. The Planning Commission of India and Inter-Ministerial Committee reviewed the recommendations. A committee under the chairmanship of Dr. Mohan Singh Mehta was constituted by the ICAR in 1973 which further gave the recommendations for the establishment of KVKs in the country. The first Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) was established in 1974 at Pudducherry under Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore by the ICAR, New Delhi. Presently, the ICAR has established 731 KVKs all over the country under different organizations like State Agricultural Universities, the ICAR institutes, Deemed Universities, Central Institutes, State Governments and NGOs. SKUAST-J has established 9 KVKs in different districts of J&K. These KVKs are mitigating the scientific agricultural needs of the farmers of Jammu division. These KVKs are playing a pivotal role in transformation in rural areas by updating the rural people about the latest agricultural technologies. These KVKs are immensely playing a major role in farmers’ prosperity. The KVKs have proved their worth to mitigate the agricultural needs of the farmers. The KVKs empower the farmers through need-based farmers/vocational trainings and helpful to change the socio-economic conditions of the farmers. The Krishi Vigyan Kendras conduct on- farm testing, identify the location specificity of agricultural technologies, lay out front line demonstrations to establish the production potential of various agricultural technologies at farmers fields, impart need-based and skill oriented training to the practicing farmers, in-service extensional personnel , to those who are interested for self-employment to update their knowledge and skills in new agricultural technologies, create awareness on improved technologies through various extension methods, produce and provide improved quality seeds, planting material, livestock, poultry, fisheries etc. to the farmers and work as agricultural knowledge centers for the public, private and voluntary organizations. These Kendras cater the needs of those who wish to be self-employed or those who are already employed. There is no particular syllabus for the Krishi Vigyan Kendras. The programmes and syllabus(action plan) of the Krishi Vigyan Kendras are tailored according to the needs, resources and potential for the agricultural growth in a particular area and is finally decided by involving the districts heads, Panches/Sarpanches and also progressive farmers of the respective district.
KVKs serve as the knowledge and resource centres for agricultural technologies, assisting governmental, commercial and non profit organizations in enhancing the district agricultural economy. KVKs produce quality seed and distribute high quality agro inputs to the farmers. They also provide agricultural literature to the farmers in local dialect. The prime objective of the Krishi Vigyan Kendras is agricultural growth. Priority is given to the weaker sections of the society like small, marginal, tribal farmers, agricultural labourers, drought prone areas, hilly areas, forest areas, coastal areas etc. and work-experience is the main method of imparting training. The first objective of the ICAR is to cover the entire country with one Krishi Vigyan Kendra in each district and priority is given to the backward areas. As there is a great demand for the improved agricultural technologies by the farmers so there is great demand of Krishi Vigyan Kendras throughout the country. Farmers need not only the latest knowledge of the technologies but also more skills in the agricultural operations for adoption.
The KVK staff is comprised the sixteen members team. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra is headed by one Senior Scientist & Head, six Subject Matter Specialists(SMSs) from the different discipline like Agricultural Extension, Horticulture, Agronomy, Home Science, Animal Science and Fisheries, three Programme Assistants(trainings, farm and computer each), two administrative staff, two drivers and two OCCs. In the agricultural universities, KVKs are headed by the Director Extension (DE) and at zone level KVKs are monitored and guided by Director, ATARI (Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute).At central level KVKs are headed by Deputy Director General (DDG) Extension. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) provides guidelines to KVKs and conducts periodic supervision. In order to establish a KVK there is requirement of basic infrastructure. The KVK has its administrative building, farmers’ hostel and six quarters for the staff. KVKs can have different units such as hydroponics unit, mushroom cultivation unit, rain water harvesting unit, soil and water testing labs, e-connectivity, vermicompost unit, polyhouse unit, fish pond unit, poultry farm unit, beekeeping unit etc. The KVKs also have a jeep, two wheelers and tractors facilities. The KVKs are also guided to establish crop cafeterias and technology parks for the demonstration purpose. KVK executes its activities with the help and support of local management committee. The KVKs also need to constitute their Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting which involves the agricultural and allied departments’ heads and is chaired by the head of the organization. In this meeting the progressive farmers are also involved. In order to get the technical and scientific guidelines to achieve the targets and also to present the action taken report, the KVKs need to conduct Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting twice in a year. The KVKs can spend their revolving funds for production of technological products. The KVKs decide certain thrust areas according to the agro-ecological, cropping pattern and farming system of the respective district. The major thrust areas are as (i)Integrated nutrient/pest/weed management in different crops(ii)Water management (iii)Promoting organic farming (iv)Protected cultivation of high value and low value crops(v) Promotion of aromatic and medicinal plants (vi)Increase in the productivity of livestock (vi)Drudgery reduction for farm women (vi)Promotion of loose flower cultivation (vii)Promotion of new single cross hybrids in maize(viii)Value addition of agricultural products etc. Kisan Sarathi is an ICT based interface solution with the ultimate goal an intelligent online plate form for agriculture at the local level with a national perspective. The objective of Kisan Sarathi is to connect the farmers to the newest agricultural technologies, information base and a vast pool of subject matter experts in a multimedia and multi-way manner.
Follow-up of extension programmes are conducted after trainings in order to get the impact of the trainings on the trainees and proper documentation of the programmes is important. It has been observed that with the introduction of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) the adoption rates of new agricultural technologies have been increased. Now, majority of the farmers are using hybrid/improved/high yielding varieties of maize, paddy, wheat, pulses, oilseeds etc. KVKs are diverting the farmers from subsistence farming to commercial farming. By keeping the scope of floriculture in the Union Territory of J&K floriculture industry in j&k is spreading. Mushroom cultivation, sericulture, horticulture, dairy farming, vermicomposting, food processing, milk processing entrepreneurships are developed among the farmers in certain pockets of J&K. KVKs are really proving as the agricultural knowledge hubs.
(The writer Dr. Banarsi Lal is Scientist and Head of KVK, Reasi and Dr. Pawan Sharma is
Scientist at KVK, Kathua).
