Privatisation of Extension Service Providers
Privatisation of Extension Service Providers
Privatisation of Extension Service Providers
EXTENSION SERVICE
PROVIDERS
Ministry of agriculture
GOI
SAUs
Department of agriculture
Development departments
PRIVATE EXTENSION SERVICE
PROVIDERS
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE
DIRECTORATE OF EXTENSION
LINE DEPARTMENTS
80,800 village extension workers,
78,000-Department of Agriculture
Presently there are 1,10,000 extension staff
of whom around 20% are graduates
(ICAR,1998)
SAUs
The universities perform three major
functions namely teaching, research and
extension.
The major extension role of the university is
to provide technical support and
consultancy service to government
departments (training) engaged in
agricultural development work and to
farmers in special cases.
The responsibility of planning and
coordinating all extension activities of the
university lies with Directorate of
Extension.
From farmers point of view, the directorates
may not be of immediate benefit to
farmers except for those residing nearly or
near to it or nearby district of its location.
The chances of constant interaction are also
low because of the few technical
manpower in the directorates and the
large population to be covered in their
operational area.
ROLE OF PUBLIC
EXTENSION
Technology transfer for socio-economic
transformation of rural area
Safe guarding national food grain production
Concentrating on environmental issues
◦ Sustainable agriculture
◦ Soil and water conservation measures
◦ Empahasizing INM ,IPM
◦ Human resources development in agriculture
CONTI..
Gender issues:
Pesticide sellers
Seed producers
Fertilizer companies,etc
But in high value crops such as flowers, there are input firms
which provide total extension support to their growers. This
includes advise from site selection to technological guidance
throughout the growing period and advise on marketing
Media print:
Public extension deals with a large area, large population
and diverse cropping pattern.
Extension services provided are general in nature rather
than specific and intensive.
High cost, low impact of extension programmes, growing
conflicts between farmer’s interest and policy goals, poor
motivation of staff and conflicting roles are observed in
Conti..
Insufficient face to face contact between
extension worker and farmer.
Inadequate funds for operational purpose.
Inadequate technical qualifications of VLW.
Incomplete extension services.
Inadequate internal organization structure
Inefficiency of extension personnel
Inappropriateness or irrelevance of extension
content.
Dilution of impact.
Some observations of private
extension scenario
worldwide :
Private extension reduces the economic burden of governments – Netherlands
Government can have maximum control over private extension activities – Chile
PRIVATISATION
OF
EXTENSION
SERVICES
PRIVATISATION??
The act of reducing the role of Government
or increasing the role of private sector in
any activity or in the ownership of assets.
Savas,1987
Is private extension and
privatisation the same??
INTERNATIONAL
EXPERIENCES
&
ITS RELEVANCE IN
INDIAN CONTEXT
Broad experiences can be considered to
strengthen the extension services for
designing an alternate and viable model to
suite to our conditions.
AUSTRALIA
Largest experience with fee for service
extension activity in the world,having
introduced fee based advisory service.
Interviews revealed that it was an unhappy
experience
Implementation of cost recovery policy-
major restructuring;major role for field
staff!
UNITED KINGDOM
ADAS operated under a wide range of
commercial operations.
Promotes direct payment by users without
privatization of extension services
Novelty approach-charging for certain
services “a time cost basis”..previously
offered free!
BRITAIN
The agricultural and advisory service(ADAS)
charge fee for services of direct benefit to
the clients,but not for the services which
spread benefits across society,such as
those relating to soil conservation
NORWAY
While the Government pays salary,the
farmer’s circle pays the operational fees(as
50:50 cost sharing agreement)
MEXICO
Is planning to shift at least half the cost of
extension services to farmers groups in
irrigated areas.It is emphasising cost
cutting through privatisation and user of
mass media
KOREA & TAIWAN
The co-operative structure of extension has
developed in two far eastern countries
,korea and Taiwan
CHILE
Government provides funds(80%) to private
technology transfer consultancy firms
which comprises of one or two agronomists
and a few agricultural technicians.
NEW ZEALAND
Private consultants play an important role in
agriculture in the industrialised country
CANADA
Commodity groups fund and control their
own extension agronomists
TURKEY
Extension cost is shared between farmer
groups and the government through the
chambers of agriculture.
(world bank,1994)
COLOMBIA
Municipalities pay for all extension services
out of local tax revenue
Demarcating the benefits of extension
services are not helpful
‘Fee for extension’-restrict personal contact
-Less effective
In developed countries,