Support to State Extension Programmes for Extension Reforms

This scheme, approved by Government of India on March, 2005, is the main scheme to revamp agricultural extension across the country. It aims at providing a decentralized and demand driven extension system by way of new institutional arrangements for technology dissemination in the form of an Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) at district level. The other key reforms promoted under the scheme include Convergence of line departments; Multi Agency Extension Strategies; Broad-based extension delivery; Group Approach to Extension; Gender concerns; and Sustainability of extension services. The release of funds will be based on State Extension Work Plans (SEWPs) prepared by the State Governments. It is proposed to cover 252 districts across all the States/UTs in the country. An allocation of Rs.226.07 crore has been provided for the scheme during the X plan period.

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