Background:

• The Directorate of Extension Education is actively involved in transfer of latest technologies to the farmer’s field and giving its feed back to the researcher.
• The Directorate of Extension Education in this University started functioning in 1962 in Nainital District with a team of only three scientists.
• Later on, the services were extended to 16 districts of undivided UP, which were further extended to 19 districts of western plain and hill in 1973.
• This number reached to 20 with the formation of Ghaziabad district.
• Later on the area jurisdiction of the University consisted of 28 districts before the formation of Uttarakhand.
• Presently, in Uttrakhand, the University serves to 8 districts of hills and 3 districts of Tarai /Bhabhar and plains.
• With varied geographical, biophysical and socio economic conditions of the state, the work of validation of newly developed technologies and transfer of technology has become very challenging. The Directorate has accepted this challenge and the extension activities are undertaken through following units of the Directorate:

Our Units:

• Headquarters at University
• Total 11 KVKs (working at grass root level) in 11 districts.
• Training unit of Headquarter,
• Agriculture Technology Information Centre (ATIC) and
• Different  extension cells at different colleges
• State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute (SAMETI)

Our Vision:

 “To see Self Reliant, Healthy Rural Populous with Rich Agricultural Knowledge and Good Marketing Intelligence”.

Our Mission:

·         To bridge up  the agricultural technology gap at grass root level,

·         To educate rural people to attain/participate in development,

·         To create awareness about health, hygiene, environment and bio-diversity conservation for sustainable development,

·         To link farmer with newly emerging globalize world by providing them information and guidance,

·         To develop a system of effective research and extension linkages,

·         To generate employment in the field of agriculture and allied disciplines

·         To integrate IT in rural system for their development.

Our Activities:

• Technology transfer through Krishi Vigyan Kendras.
• Training programmes at Headquarters.
• To serve as single window system for providing all information regarding agriculture, providing inputs like seeds & planting material through Agricultural Technology Information Center (ATIC).
• Act as mediator for researchers by updating them with field problems of farmers and to help them in developing "Demand Driven Technology.”
• Development of extension literature and its distribution among farmers & extension functionaries.
•  Organization of Kisan Mela: A forum for Farmers-Agro. Industry interaction.
• Various collaborative projects running through Directorate.

Our Organizational Structure:

The Directorate of Extension Education is headed by Director Extension Education. It functions on the recommendations of Extension Advisory Committee. The Vice Chancellor is the Chairman of Extension Advisory Committee.

The flow chart given below provides in detail organizational set up of the Directorate of Extension Education at the university level.

Salient Achievements:

Capacity Building through Training Programmes

      The Training & Visit unit, KVKs, SAMETI-Uttarakhand and the constituent colleges of the University have organized 2,286 training programmes for 8,992 farmers, farm women, rural youth, extension functionaries and others on various aspects of agriculture and allied subjects.

o        Out of these, 149 trainings were organized by the training & visit unit for 4042 participants under different schemes sponsored by various line departments, input agencies/NGOs, and self help groups, etc.

o        The KVKs organized 1793 trainings benefiting 1542 participants from different agro-ecological situations.

o        SAMETI-Uttarakhand conducted 37 training programmes in which 625 extension functionaries and progressive farmers were trained in different aspects of agriculture and related fields including extension system management and latest agricultural technologies.           

o        The College of Agriculture organized 105 training programmes including short-term courses  and summer schools.

o        Seventeen training programmes on specialized areas of dairy, poultry and goat farming, fisheries, wildlife health management, animal health care, first aid/emergency treatment and disease control, advanced techniques in diagnosis and prophylaxis, and X-ray, ELISA & auto analyzer diagnosis techniques, etc. benefiting 423 participants including veterinary officers, livestock extension officers, foresters, progressive farmers, rural youth and women were organized by the College of Veterinary & Animal Sciences.

o        The Home Science extension specialists organized 41 training programmes under Capacity Building Project on ‘Street Food Services’. Each session of the training was attended by 20-30 participants. Twenty-eight trainings for 410 women and girls were conducted for sensitizing them about the importance of green leafy vegetables and soybean in daily diet. Twenty-two short duration courses were also conducted on different other topics. Twenty-five trainings/ winter or summer schools/ workshops/ seminars were also organized for the participants from different sections of society.

o        Ten trainings on preparation of value added fish products, fish farming, post harvest technology and integrated fish farming systems and fish culture and reservoir stocking was imparted by the College of Fisheries under various projects.

Technology Assessment, Refinement and their Demonstrations

            The KVKs and the constituent colleges of the University have conducted various types of demonstrations including FLDs for assessing the technologies in different situations.

            The KVKs conducted 2396 FLDs on different crops in an area of 2508 ha at different locations.

            The College of Technology conducted demonstrations on 10 resource conservation/adaptable technologies on improved equipments/implements covering an area of 342.5 ha which benefited 179 farmers. In addition they conducted demonstrations on Zero-till-ferti-seed drill in 200 farmers’ field covering 1500 ha.

            The College of Agriculture organized 653 FLDs including 131 on agronomical aspects and 396 on varietal improvement. 

Agriculture Technology Information Centre (ATIC): One stop shop for farmers

      Established on 26th August, 2001 with the financial support of ICAR, ATIC acts as one stop shop for all farmers and rurals.

      Farmers not only get technological products like seeds, sapling of plants; literature on agriculture, horticulture, vegetables, animal husbandry, poultry, fisheries, agricultural implements and published books of the University on subsidized rates, but also from far off places they get solution of various agricultural and related problems.

      The Help-line service of ATIC replied to 2484 calls from 546 farmers of Uttarakhand and 1938 from other parts of India.

      In total, the sale of Minikit of seeds of crops has been to the value Rs. 2,53,212 and of vegetable seeds Rs. 44,225.

      The sale of literature including the Pantnagar Kisan Diary to the farmers has been to the tune of Rs. 6,04,138.

      The membership of the two magazines viz. Indian Farmers’ Digest and Kisan Bharti has been extended to 3,800 numbers.

      ATIC is also connected with farmers for on-line solutions through Village Resource Centre (VRC) established with the help of Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

Visits conducted

      The Training & Visit unit conducted 170 short visits to the University at different occasions benefiting 7072 visitors from all over the country and Nepal.

      Four thousand and seventeen farmers and extension functionaries visited ATIC from different parts of the country and the neighboring country (Nepal) for seeking solutions to their queries.

Publications

      Over 1250 title publications on various scientific/ extension topics were brought out.

o        Out of these 1150 publications have been contributed by the KVKs including 26 research papers, 71 technical reports/bulletins, 117 popular articles, 184 extension booklets, and 752 news items/stories in the leading publications and regional newspapers.

o        Six extension booklets on thrust areas of Uttarakhand viz., Guinea fowl, Vegetable production in hills, Floriculture, Hybrid seed production in cucurbits, Traditional methods of irrigation versus modern techniques have been published in Hindi by SAMETI-Uttarakhand. These are available to the farmers at subsidized cost.

Organization of All India Farmers Fair and Agro Industrial Exhibition:

For the benefits of the farmers and agro-industrial organizations, university organizes All India Farmers’ Fair and Agro-Industrial Exhibition at its main campus twice in a year for duration of four-days.

                  This fair is a common forum for all stake holders of Agriculture Industry i.e. Farmers, Scientists, Agricultural firms and policy makers.

                  Farmers from all over India including neighboring countries visit the fair.

                  Question-answer session i.e. Kisan Gosthi and special lectures are important features of farmers’ fair.

                  Like head-quarters, farmer’s fair are also organized at 11 KVKs under the aegis of University.

Radio Talks

      A total of 330 radio talks/T.V. programmes were given on various timely topics by the faculty, including 116 radio talks and 83 T.V. programmes by the KVKs’ scientists.

Documentation of success stories

      SAMETI-Uttarakhand documented 6 success stories of the progressive farmers on specialized areas including fisheries, dairy, floriculture, organic farming, integrated farming and vegetable production in form of video CDs of 20-25 minutes duration in Hindi.

Animal welfare camps

      The college of Veterinary & Animal Sciences conducted 65 animal welfare camps wherein the veterinary doctors treated 3408 animals and provided animal health management tips to the farmers.

Establishment of Village Information Centre and Processing Centre:

      The college of Home Science has set up a Village Information Center at Netajinagar (U.S.Nagar) through the women cluster under the ICAR project for training and support aimed at empowering women. An entrepreneurial activity center for adolescent girls, Bal Kalyan Samiti, and a Youth Center for drama has also been established.

      The college of Technology established two Agro-Processing Centres under AICRP on Post Harvest Technology (PHT) at Haldwani (District Nainital).

KVKs : Extension Units at Grass root Level

The first KVK under the jurisdiction of this University was established in the year 1984 at Ranichauri (Tehri) and by 1998 a total of 11 KVKs and one remandated KVK were established. Out of these KVKs, only two KVKs and one ZARS Majhera (Nainital) remained with this University after the bifurcation of U.P. Presently, a total 11 KVKs are running under aegis of University. These are given in the table below:

State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute (SAMETI)

      State Agricultural Management and Extension Training Institute, Uttarakhand was established in the University at the Directorate of Extension Education of the University on August 25, 2005 to support the State Agricultural Extension Programmes.

      Thereafter, on August 30, 2006 the institute got registered at the office of the Deputy Registrar, Firms, Societies and Chits office, Haldwani, District Nainital under the Societies' Registration Act, 1860.

      The Institute provides training, managerial, equipments and communication support and programme cost to strengthen the functioning of the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA).

      It is an autonomous institute with greater flexibility in structural and operational aspects, headed by the Director Extension Education of the University, as its Director.

      The Institute works under the guidelines of the Govt. of India as the highest directive/ governing body for the ATMA programmes in the state.

      It also works as complementary body to fulfill the training needs of agricultural extension functionaries. 

Training Calendar 2009-10

SAMETI-Uttarakhand plans to organize about 24 trainings for different categories of the extension functionaries’ viz. BTT members/FAC/Senior officers in line departments/ Scientists of KVKs and also the progressive farmers. The trainings will be of 3-4 days duration and shall be conducted at the headquarter.

List of Memorandums of Understanding signed by  Directorate of Extension Education/ Projects Being Run

Future Plans:

      The perspective plan for extension services is to follow a new strategy of e-connectivity and cyber extension to drive full advantage of the available human and material resources for their best utilization within a short time in difficult physical terrains.

      Establishment of a Community Radio Station has been envisaged in the premises of the KVKs with financial support from the Government of India under the Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) to help in realizing and solving the local problems of the farmers at a faster rate.

      Launching of computer KIOSKS (touch screen computerized information system) has been the new vision to serve the agriculture community. The first KIOSK has recently been established at ATIC.

      More efforts will be made to enhance public- private-relationship in improving the efficiency of technology transfer.