2. Contents
• What is Agricultural Extension?
• Global Forces of Change
• Broader role of extension
• Globalization and Trade Liberalization
• Modern Extension systems
• Situation in Sri Lanka
• Conclusion
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3. Agricultural Extension
A service or a system which assists farm
people, through educational procedures, in
improving farming methods and techniques,
increase production efficiency and income,
bettering their level of living and lifting the
social & educational status of rural
life(Maunder,1973)
3
4. Fact!
The first modern agricultural advisory
and instructional service was
established in Ireland during the great
potato famine(1847-1851)
4
5. Forces of Change
• They could be political, technical, economic or social
• They could be location specific, regional, national or
global
• The effects of these forces of change may be immediate,
medium-term or long-term, and they may be direct or
indirect
• Must make internal and external adjustments, to keep
functioning at the same or at higher level of efficiency
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6. Forces of Change
• Privatization
• Commercialization and agri-business
• Democratization and participation
• Environment concerns
• Disasters and emergencies
• Information technology break-through
• Rural poverty, hunger and vulnerability
• Criticism of public extension services
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7. Broader role of extension
Some institutions have produced individual publications
containing principles of reforms, which may be used as
guidelines for reforming the national agricultural
extension systems in the developing countries.
The primary Institutions are:
• Food & Agricultural Organization of the UN (FAO)
• The US Agency for International
Development(USAID)
• The World Bank(WB)
• The International Fund for Agricultural
development(IFAD)
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8. Globalization
• The concept of world becomes a single entity
for living and business without restrictions on
peoples’ movement
• It paves the path to market liberalization
• The liberalized markets are like a free-drive-
away
• Proper access will help farmers to have a better
knowledge
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9. Trade Liberalization
• Trade liberalization of economies via the reduction or
complete elimination of trade barriers has become the
most popular economic policy of developed and
developing countries today
• With globalization of world economies all most all the
counties in the world are actively involved with
reducing trade barriers among their trade partners
• Overally, liberalization has contributed significantly to
accelerate economic growth and investment rates over
the period of 1977-2007 in Sri Lanka 9
10. Modern Extension systems
• Decentralized extension services
• Fully or partially privatized extension
• Pluralistic extension system
• Client-orientation
• Application of information technology
• Participatory extension
• Unified extension service
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11. Decentralized extension services
• Small units at national level to handle functions of
policy, co-ordination and training and delegating
the tasks of programmed planning,
implementation and even fiscal authority to the
provincial or district or municipality government
• Involvement of NGO’s, community based groups,
Farmer organizations
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12. Fully or partially privatized
extension
• Outsourcing extension !
• The positive result is enhanced efficiency of staff, and
the negative effect is the deprivation of small farmers
from extension services due to their inability or
unwillingness to pay
• Benefits of this system has gained by
Albania, England, Costa Rica, Argentina
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13. Pluralistic extension system
• Model of using both public and non-public institutions
for delivering extension services to farming
communities(succeeded in Bangladesh, Mali)
• The main challenge in installing a proper pluralistic
agricultural extension mechanism would be the co-
ordination among various agencies, the absence of
which has led, in some instances, to conflicting
technical recommendations creating confusion among
the farmers
13
14. Client-orientation
• The extension clientele include subsistence
farmers, commercial farmers, rural youth,
women, rural farmers' families, and they all have
different extension needs
• Everybody’s needs have to be looked by the
extension personnel(Succeeded in Malawi,
Uganda and Zambia)
• The underlying cause is increasing food needs in
sprawling cities 14
15. Application of Information
Technology
• The advanced information technology is already
making headway in the area of rural and agricultural
development(in Egypt, Ireland, Italy)
• The main challenge is how the powers of advanced
information technology can be harnessed for the
benefit of both extension agents and farmers without
compromising the importance of human and unique
local factors
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16. Participatory extension
• Powerful trend towards involving farmers in
decision making
• A methodology an extension delivery partnership
mechanism is being worked out, involving
stakeholders such as extension staff, farmers,
NGOs, private sector, research, and academic
institutions
• Broad & differentiated communal involvement
16
17. Unified extension service
• The creation or strengthening of multi-
disciplinary subject-mater specialists
• Countries succeeded-
Uganda, Iran, Indonesia, the Philippines
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18. Situation in Sri Lanka
• With the beginning of the colonial regime, which drove towards
the establishment of a centralized administration, the village
based social system deteriorated
• Priority given was the plantation sector
• Later Division of Agriculture Extension was established under
Department of Agriculture in 1963 and agriculture extension
which was confined to rice only was extended to other crops as
well
• T & V system was established in 1980 by the assistance of the
World Bank
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19. Today….
• Cyber agricultural extension mechanism has been
implemented in 2004 to deliver information which is
affordable to rural farmers to satisfy their thirst for
information, which is dynamic
• The project established 45 Cyber Extension Units
(CEU) at 45 Govijana Kendra offices (Agrarian
Service Centres) during the period of 2004-2006
• Farmers are being educated through use of call
centers(toll free on 1920),educational CD’s etc. 19
20. Conclusion
• Agricultural extension is an essential part in technology
transfer
• Globalization and Trade liberalization are the two main forces
to bring up modern agricultural extension systems
• The trend was the birth of unique and a better, effective and
supportive extension systems
• Newest trends of extension now go ahead with collaborating
with ICT
• It should be dynamic, location &time specific, updated and
facilitate change enabling a better educational & social status
for rural community
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22. Reference
• AEM5246 course material(OUSL)
• Wijekoon, R.R.A. (2003). Concept paper presented to
Sri Lanka council for Agricultural Research Policy
• Riggs, M. (2003). Information Management for
sustainable Agricultural Development in the Asian –
Pacific Region - Proceeding of study meeting on ICT
for Agricultural Extension
• http://www.fao.org/sd/index_en.htm
• http://www.usaid.gov/
• http://www.ifad.org/
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