A Critical Review and SWOT Analysis of Important Extension Agencies in India for Improving Extension Management

The agricultural extension system in India has the daunting task of serving about 146.45 million farm families. Public extension systems comprising KVKs, ATMA, State Line Departments, SAUs and ICAR Institutes have been playing a pivotal role in extending extension services; of late, private players like input companies, credit and insurance firms, Corporate Social Responsibility units, NGOs, farmers’ associations (FBOs/FPOs) and commodity boards (Rubber, Coffee, etc.) have made a significant impact in this area. Despite such a vast network of public and private extension agencies, there is a wide gap in service delivery and extension education interventions. All these extension agencies have their strength and weaknesses but also hold promising dynamism for future challenges. As agricultural extension will be a very important determinant of future agricultural growth, the assessment of SWOT analysis of different extension agencies engaged in delivering extension services in India is imperative.