RTI MATI'ER Speed Post

F.No.29-9/ 20 16-Estt./ RTI Gm'ernment of India

Directorate of ExtensIOn Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare

Department of Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare Krishi Vis tar Bha an lASRI Campus, Pusa.

New Delhi -110012. Dated the 1<t"April, 2016

To, Shri Kt:shav Thore, 1125 - F, Barve unglow, F.C. Road, PUNE - 4 1 004 (Mah&,rashtra).

Sub: Supply of information under the Ri'f,hL to Information Act, 2005, application from Shri Keshav Thore (Maharashtra) se king infonnation on "Schemes" (Regn. No.DOA&C/R/2016/50260/12 dated 27.03.2016).

Sir, 1 am to refer to your RTI application dated 27.03.2016 receiv d through Department of

Agnc'r..drure. '0 peration & Farmers Welfares, Mini Lry Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Govt. of India, New Delhi, seeking infonnation on the subject cited above under the RTI Act, 2005.

far as the Directorate of Extension, Department of Agriculture. Cooperation & Farmers Welfar , l( v mment of India is concerned th information i enclosed at annexure.

IL IS La mention that the First Appeal. if any. againsL the reply of CPIO may be made to the First Appellate Authority within 30 days of receipt of this reply. The particular of the Flr t Appella e uthority are as follows:

SH. P., . ARMORlKAR.

DrR - CTO« (ET),

DEPARTMENT OF A6R( ~ (TtiR£. cOOPER '\n &. F..~R" IEl~ 'c ELF. R .,

Ml; IISTRYOf AG lCL LTL'«£ &. F. R1' ::'..R. \ ~LfARE..

ROO\l O. 203. KRl. H[ V{STAR nHA 'AN

IAS~r CAMPUS, P SA" NEW ,ELm 11001 9 .

011-25843404 and e-mail !d=p.armorikar:..!nic.in

Your ~aitlry.~lo

\~ 0

Joint Dir' r (Extn.)& Central Public fnformatlon Ofucer

(Ph.011-2584 8949 and e-mail Id= jdext-agr' ~gov.in)

Copy to: 1. Sh. Vljay Rajmohan, Director (Extn.) & ePIO, Extension Division, 0 partment of

Agriculture, Cooperation & Farmers Welfare, Minis ry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Room NO.188 A, Krishi Bhavan, Ne\'~ DelhI ......ith referenc-e to their letter _ 0.9-1/2016­Extn./ Tl dated 8 th Apri12016 for kind information plea ~e.

2Ar. Technical Director (NIC). DeparJrn Tit of Agriculture, Coo?er~tion & Farmers W Y~·e. V~ of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Room 0.349, Knshl Bhavan, t'!ew DelhI Wlth

lhe request 0 upload the RTI reply.

( ajiLh Kumpr <unhcUatl1)

EXTENSION DIVISION

The implcm ntation of National Mission of Agricultural Extension and Technology (NMAET) has started w.c.f 1.4.2014. Sub- Mission on Agricultural Extension (SMAE) is one of the four S lb - Missions under the National Mission. The common thr ads running across all four Submis ions of MAET are Extension and Technology. Th se are inextricably linked to each other at the field level from farmer's Per pective. 2. A multi-tiered extension str tegy with a blend of following extension and outreach initiati es is being followed under the Sub-Mission on Agricultural Extension (S AE) so as to mpower farmer with the lat st knowledge and information in agriculture and allied sectors.

(i) Support to State Extension Programmes for Extension Reforms (ATMA):­ATMA Scheme has now been extended to cover 652 rural districts of 29 States & 3 UTs aero s the country. This Sch m ha" r c ntly been revised to include manpower support; roping in the farmers' feed back in to planning by setting up Farmer Advisory Committees ( AC ) at Block/ Di trict & State Le el and pro iding farmer-to-farmer learning and extension support through ·armer Friend. The Modified Scheme has dedicated Specialists & Functionary Support at State (2 state), District (5 per district) & Block level (4 per Block). Various activiti s supported under this initiative for educating and creating awareness amongs - farmers include trainings, exposure visits, demonstr tion, study tours farm schools et . Since inception, 3.51 crores farmers have been benefited through various farmer ori nted activities.

(ii) Mass Media Support to Agricultural Extension and Focused Publicity Campaigns have also b en given a fillip. The Audio & Video Spots and success stories are being aired through All India Radio, Doordarshan and Private Channels operating at the National and Regional Level.

6 FM Transmitters of AIR are used to broadcast area specific agricultural programme for 30 minutes in the evenings, i days a week.

Focused Advertisement Campaigns which cut across all the Divisions of the Ministry have been continuing since July 2010. The campaigns are being launched through print as well as ele tronic media to create awareness about the assistance available to farmers under various chemes of the Department of Agriculture & Cooperation.

(iii) Agrl-Clinic and Agrl-Business Centres: The Scheme provides extension serVlCes to farmers through setting up of economically viable s If - employment ventur~s. Selected trainees are provided agri-preneurship training for a period of two months by MA AGE through identified Nodal Training Institutions in various states, which also provide handholding supp rt for one year. ABARD monitors the credit support to Agri-Clinics through Commercial Banks. Provi ion of credit-linked back-ended subsidy @ 36% has been approv d under the scheme. The subsidy would be 44% in r spect of candidates belonging to SC, ST, women and those from North-Eastern and Hill States.

The sch -me has turned out to be ~ efficacious and cost effective mode of exten, ion services. Since inception of the scheme 47815 for unemployed candidates with agriculture quali.fication have been trained and 20448 agri-ventures have been set up by the trained candidates upto March 2016.

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(iv) Kisan Call Centres: In yet another initiative of the Division, agriculture related information is provided to the farmers through Kisan Call Centres (KCCs) having toll free telephone lines a c ssible through all mobile phones and landlines of all telecom networks including private service providers. Replies to the farmer's queries are given in 22 local languages between 6.00 am to 10.00 pm on all seven days of the week. The KCCs set up at 14 locations have been r structured to provide various technological innovations. Since inception of the scheme, over 235.96 lakh live calls have been registered at the KCC till

January, 2016.

(v) Information dissemination through Agri Fairs: Agriculture exhibitions are an excell nL mechanism for showca ing laLest technological advancements and dissemination of nIormaLion to lhe farming communi~y and also for promoting business opportunities in agriculture and allied sectors. The Extension Division is promoting/ organizing agriculture fairs at different levels. At thc national level, the Division participates in India International Trade Fair organized annually by India Trade Promotion Organization. Further, the Division supports five Regional fairs - one in each Region every y ar. The agriculture fair at Block, District and State levels are also being supported by the Division under its Extension Reforms (ATMA) Scheme and d cision in this reg2.trd rests with the States.

(vi) Kissan SMS Portal: The Department of Agriculture & Cooperation, Government of India has created a MS Portal for Farmers in July 2013. The nation-wide SMS Portal for Farmers has enabled all Departm nts, Offices and Organizations of Govt. of India and State

overnments (down to the block level) to send information, provide services and give advisori s to farmers in their local languages, in respect to their location and for preference of crops / agricultural pr ctices, market prices, weather reports, soil test reports etc. More than 1087.09 crores SMSs have been sent to farmers since launch of SMS Portal. The registered farmers have been grouped based on the State, District, Block and the Crops/Activities selected by the farmers.

(vii) Extension Support to Central Institutes/DOE: The Scheme provides support to diff rent institutions at tional and Regional level for execution, review and monitoring of various extension initiatives and to build capacities and capabiliti s of senior and middle level extension functionaries acros the country and to improve outreach of these initiatives to farmers through organization of and participation m various

xhibition/Fairs. Directorate of xtension (DOE) and N tional Institute for Management of Agricultural Extension (MA AGE) operate at National level where as Extension Education Institutes (EEls) - one in each of the four Regions of the country are the regional hubs to provide training and HRD support to the extension functionaries. State Agricultural Man gement and Extension Training Institut s (SAMETls) operate at the State Level. Besides, in order to improve the professional competence of Subject Matter Specialists and Master Trainer. working under '- tate Agriculture Departments and State Agriculture Universitie , support is also provided to organize training courses in different subject matter areas of Agriculture, Horticulture, An'lmal Husbandry and other allied fields. These courses are org 1iz d through St'te AgricultUl-::1l Universities, leAR institutes and other National. Ie el I stitutes.