India is a land of villages and most of the people residing in villages are

farmers. Agriculture is the major occupation of people and around 60% of the
population is directly associated with agriculture. Agricultural development is
helpful for 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.
Every year 16th July is celebrated as Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR) Foundation Day. The ICAR has contributed immensely to increase food grain
production in India. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has started
a scheme to establish innovative agricultural science-based institutions called
Krishi Vigyan Kendras (Farm Science Centers) in the country. The National
Commission on Agriculture and the Planning Commission have strongly recommended its
implementation. In order to work out the details of the Krishi Vigyan Kendras, a
committee under the chairmanship of Dr Mohan Singh Mehta was constituted by ICAR in
1973. Krishi Vigyan Kendras are mainly designed to impart need-based and skill
oriented training to the practicing farmers, in-service extensional personnel and
to those who are interested in self-employment. The Krishi Vigyan Kendras are
implemented through State Agricultural Universities, selected ICAR institutes,
central universities, voluntary organisations and State Governments. The first
Krishi Vigyan Kendra was established in 1974 at Puducherry under Tamil Nadu
Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The Krishi Vigyan Kendras are concerned with
agricultural technical literacy, the acquisition of which does not required as a
precondition to read or write. 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 of Krishi Vigyan Kendra
are tailored according to the needs, resources and potential for the agricultural
growth in a particular area.
Agricultural growth is the prime goal of the Krishi Vigyan Kendras. 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 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, there is great
demand for Krishi Vigyan Kendras throughout the country. Farmers need not only the
knowledge of the technologies but also more skills in the agricultural operations
for adoption. Now the effectiveness of Krishi Vigyan Kendras has been enhanced by
the addition of on-farm testing and front line demonstrations on the agricultural
technologies.
The four major functions of Krishi Vigyan Kendras are:
(i) To impart training to the farmers and extension functionaries.
(ii) To organise long-term vocational training for the rural youths in order to
generate self-employment.
(iii) To lay out front-line demonstrations at farmer's fields to generate the
production data and also to get feedback from the farmers.
(iv) To conduct on-farm tests, refinement and documentation of agricultural
technologies. Needs based training is designed for different types of farmers. The
training courses are designed on the basis of information received from village
surveys through Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) or Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA)
methods and characterise the human and physical resources. The farming system of
the farmers is taken into account while designing the courses of the programmes.
All methods and means to develop the skill among the farmers in their areas of
interest are taken into account.
Basically the training starts from the farmers production units such as farmers
fields, dairy units, poultry units, goat units, sheep units etc. and terminates
with discussion. No certificate or diploma is awarded to the farmers for the
training. Follow-up extension programmes are conducted after training in order to
get the impact of the training on the trainees.
The KVK staff comprises the sixteen members team. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra is
headed by Senior Scientist-cum-Head.
The subject Matter Specialists (SMSs)/scientists from the different disciplines
like Agricultural Extension, Horticulture, Agronomy, Home Science, Animal Science
and Fisheries forms the scientific staff of the KVK. The programmes are assisted by
a Programme Assistant. Farm Manager takes care of KVK farm which is mainly used for
demonstration purposes. The agricultural universities KVKs are headed by the
Director Extension (DE) and at zone level KVKs are monitored and guided by Director
Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI).At central level
KVKs are headed by Deputy Director General (DDG).The Indian Council of Agricultural
Research (ICAR) provides guidelines to KVKs and conducts periodic supervision. KVK
has its own buildings, demonstration farms, vehicles, and farmer�s hostels for
scientific staff. KVK executes its activities with the help and guidance of the
local management committee. The KVKs are provided 100% financial assistance from
ICAR.
Krishi Vigyan Kendra plans and conducts surveys of the operational areas to
identify the training needs of the farmers. It compiles all the recommendations for
the district to utilize in the training programmes. KVK conducts need-based,
production oriented short and long-term training courses both on and off campus.
KVK maintains the farm on the scientific basis for the demonstration purpose in
order to provide the work experience to the farmers and also to disseminate the
latest agricultural technologies.
KVK also imparts some general training to the rural illiterates and school dropouts
in order to convert them as good farmers. KVK also provides training to the women
for home making and nutrition education for rural communities and also on other
areas like cottage industries, home crafts etc.
KVK undertakes on-farm testing of the agricultural technologies and allied aspects
for their suitability and also to identify the constraints.
KVK helps to implement all the schemes of the ICAR and other related organisations.
KVK demonstrates the various technologies to recommend for their adoption for
maximizing the yield or income per unit time in different resource conditions.
Presently India has more than 700 KVKs all over the country. The Krishi Vigyan
Kendras are really transforming the rural areas.
India is a land of villages and most of the people residing in villages are
farmers. Agriculture is the major occupation of people and around 60% of the
population is directly associated with agriculture. Agricultural development is
helpful for 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.
Every year 16th July is celebrated as Indian Council of Agricultural Research
(ICAR) Foundation Day. The ICAR has contributed immensely to increase food grain
production in India. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) has started
a scheme to establish innovative agricultural science-based institutions called
Krishi Vigyan Kendras (Farm Science Centers) in the country. The National
Commission on Agriculture and the Planning Commission have strongly recommended its
implementation. In order to work out the details of the Krishi Vigyan Kendras, a
committee under the chairmanship of Dr Mohan Singh Mehta was constituted by ICAR in
1973. Krishi Vigyan Kendras are mainly designed to impart need-based and skill
oriented training to the practicing farmers, in-service extensional personnel and
to those who are interested in self-employment. The Krishi Vigyan Kendras are
implemented through State Agricultural Universities, selected ICAR institutes,
central universities, voluntary organisations and State Governments. The first
Krishi Vigyan Kendra was established in 1974 at Puducherry under Tamil Nadu
Agricultural University, Coimbatore. The Krishi Vigyan Kendras are concerned with
agricultural technical literacy, the acquisition of which does not required as a
precondition to read or write. 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 of Krishi Vigyan Kendra
are tailored according to the needs, resources and potential for the agricultural
growth in a particular area.
Agricultural growth is the prime goal of the Krishi Vigyan Kendras. 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 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, there is great
demand for Krishi Vigyan Kendras throughout the country. Farmers need not only the
knowledge of the technologies but also more skills in the agricultural operations
for adoption. Now the effectiveness of Krishi Vigyan Kendras has been enhanced by
the addition of on-farm testing and front line demonstrations on the agricultural
technologies.
The four major functions of Krishi Vigyan Kendras are:
(i) To impart training to the farmers and extension functionaries.
(ii) To organise long-term vocational training for the rural youths in order to
generate self-employment.
(iii) To lay out front-line demonstrations at farmer's fields to generate the
production data and also to get feedback from the farmers.
(iv) To conduct on-farm tests, refinement and documentation of agricultural
technologies. Needs based training is designed for different types of farmers. The
training courses are designed on the basis of information received from village
surveys through Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) or Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA)
methods and characterise the human and physical resources. The farming system of
the farmers is taken into account while designing the courses of the programmes.
All methods and means to develop the skill among the farmers in their areas of
interest are taken into account.
Basically the training starts from the farmers production units such as farmers
fields, dairy units, poultry units, goat units, sheep units etc. and terminates
with discussion. No certificate or diploma is awarded to the farmers for the
training. Follow-up extension programmes are conducted after training in order to
get the impact of the training on the trainees.
The KVK staff comprises the sixteen members team. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra is
headed by Senior Scientist-cum-Head.
The subject Matter Specialists (SMSs)/scientists from the different disciplines
like Agricultural Extension, Horticulture, Agronomy, Home Science, Animal Science
and Fisheries forms the scientific staff of the KVK. The programmes are assisted by
a Programme Assistant. Farm Manager takes care of KVK farm which is mainly used for
demonstration purposes. The agricultural universities KVKs are headed by the
Director Extension (DE) and at zone level KVKs are monitored and guided by Director
Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI).At central level
KVKs are headed by Deputy Director General (DDG).The Indian Council of Agricultural
Research (ICAR) provides guidelines to KVKs and conducts periodic supervision. KVK
has its own buildings, demonstration farms, vehicles, and farmer�s hostels for
scientific staff. KVK executes its activities with the help and guidance of the
local management committee. The KVKs are provided 100% financial assistance from
ICAR.
Krishi Vigyan Kendra plans and conducts surveys of the operational areas to
identify the training needs of the farmers. It compiles all the recommendations for
the district to utilize in the training programmes. KVK conducts need-based,
production oriented short and long-term training courses both on and off campus.
KVK maintains the farm on the scientific basis for the demonstration purpose in
order to provide the work experience to the farmers and also to disseminate the
latest agricultural technologies.
KVK also imparts some general training to the rural illiterates and school dropouts
in order to convert them as good farmers. KVK also provides training to the women
for home making and nutrition education for rural communities and also on other
areas like cottage industries, home crafts etc.
KVK undertakes on-farm testing of the agricultural technologies and allied aspects
for their suitability and also to identify the constraints.
KVK helps to implement all the schemes of the ICAR and other related organisations.
KVK demonstrates the various technologies to recommend for their adoption for
maximizing the yield or income per unit time in different resource conditions.
Presently India has more than 700 KVKs all over the country. The Krishi Vigyan
Kendras are really transforming the rural areas.