Extension Strategies for Animal Husbandry Sector Development in India

1. Mahesh Chander
&
Prakashkumar Rathod
ICAR- Indian Veterinary Research Institute
Izatnagar-243 122 (UP) INDIA
Extension Strategies for Animal
Husbandry Sector Development
in India

2. • Productivity & Quality
improvement depends on
technology generation, technology
transfer, technology users and
support mechanisms, which need to
be geared up.
• Farmers need to be updated on new
technologies and scientific
management practices of livestock
production on regular basis.
Introduction

3. • Productivity can be substantially
improved by effective targeted
extension services focused on
livestock development.
• Multifarious agencies for Extension
service delivery- But…..
Poorly harnessed for
accessing information on
improved animal husbandry
and livestock production
Introduction

4. • Livestock extension activities are sporadic, casual, occasional,
highly unorganized--- so do not effectively meet the requirements
of a vast majority of livestock farmers.
• Failure of development programmes due to lack of focused
livestock extension service.
• Face constraints like budget, human resource, infrastructure etc.
• Poor infrastructure and high costs of delivering information
• Modern ICTs can reduce the cost of information delivery/act as
solutions for future.
• Time to consider a wide range of options for sharing
information with farmers.
Livestock/Dairy Extension Today…

5. Agencies providing Livestock Extension
Service in India
• Directorate of Extension, MoA, GOI –Crop focused, very little
involvement in A H activities.
• Dept. of AH, Dairying & Fisheries (DAHDF) GOI- limited
budget & no staff to look after extension.
• Animal Science institutes of ICAR- limited extension activities,
occasional, mandate specific
• NDDB -restricted to dairying that too among members of dairy
cooperatives.
• Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVKs)-Animal husbandry component is
weak.
• State Agricultural/Veterinary Universities- occasional in nature, not
well equipped for extension.

6. Agencies providing Livestock Extension
Service in India
• State Cooperative Dairy Federations- restricted to milch cattle of
cooperative members.
• NGOs- potential is not fully harnessed, only a few like BAIF &
Pradan could come up.
• Private Sector agencies- private dairies/ poultry firms, contract
farming of poultry and dairy-emerging option for the farmers.
• Agri-input dealers and vet pharma companies- concerned with
their product promotion not on farmers’ development.
• State Department of Animal Husbandry (SDAH)- major
stakeholder but inadequately staffed, poorly budgeted, ill equipped-
major concern is animal health-clinical approach, little orientation
for livestock extension.

7. Scenario of Livestock Extension
Activities
Activities Reality
Advisory and consultancy service Poor extension
• Animal health treatment is the
priority
• Capacity building needs special focus
• Lack of time and infrastructure
• Differentiate felt and unfelt needs
• Gap between farmers, line
departments and universities
• Reorienting mindsets
• Need to focus on HRD, PPP
• Role of ICT- Very important
Livestock mela/fair/exhibition
Health/ Sterility/ Fertility/ vaccination
Camps
Demonstrations
Training programmes on various topics
for farmers, officers and
paraprofessionals
Village and farm visits
Use of mass media like radio ,TV,
newspaper
Publication of literature
Very rare use of ICT and social media

8. Exclusive Extension Wing and Human
Resources in SDAH
State
Separate Ext.
Wing
Human Resource
( Extension Officers)
Andhra Pradesh Yes HQ-4 Dist-3
Arunachal Pradesh No Total-48 Dist-3
Assam No Dist-136
Bihar Yes HQ-2
Chattisgarh No HQ-146(VEO) Dist & Block-63
Goa Yes HQ-1 Dist-12
Gujarat Yes
Himachal Pradesh No HQ-1 Dist-11
Karnataka Yes HQ-3 Block-176
Madhya Pradesh Yes HQ-263 Dist-50
Maharashtra No Block-291
HQ-1 Asst
Commissioner
Manipur No Sub Dir.Office-8 AEO-27

9. Exclusive Extension Wing and Human
Resources in SDAH
State Separate Ext. Wing Human Resource
( Extension Officers)
Meghalaya No Block-39
Punjab No JD (AH)-5 DD-25
Rajastan No HQ-3 DD
Sikkim Yes HQ-3 North-8 East-10 West-5 South-5
Tamil Nadu No Field Staff-300
Tripura No District-34
Uttarkhand No HQ-1 Dist-882
West Bengal No HQ-15 Dist-950
Andaman& N Yes HQ-1
Chandigarh No HQ-5
Dadra& N H No HQ-1

10. Budget allocation for livestock extension
activities (in %)
Source: Chander and Rathod, 2013
Optimum budget expected is 10% for extension activities within the total Animal
husbandry and dairy sector budget

11. Extension Strategies for Development
• Public sector extension services-
Not the preferred option for
accessing information on modern
technologies in livestock production.
• An effective extension machinery
and access to inputs can improve
productivity by adopting latest
technologies.
Reducing knowledge gap of farmers:
• Only 5% households access any information on animal
husbandry against 40 % of households accessing information on
modern technology for crop farming (GOI, 2005).

12. Strengthening Livestock Extension
• Pluralism in livestock extension services-Need of the hour
• Effective coordination- public and private agencies
• Encourage participation of private organizations/ NGOs./CSR
initiatives etc.
Feedback mechanism
• Poor research, extension and farmer linkage
• Poor dissemination of livestock technologies
• Farmers’ feedback- very essential
• Research can be field tested by interdisciplinary teams based on
factors like location, resources etc.
Extension Strategies for Development

13. Improving Research-Extension linkages:
• Research outputs can be effectively communicated by stronger
linkages
• Promotion of direct interface between farmers , officers of line
departments and scientists
• Research priority setting by SREP based on PRA and joint study
of teams including line depts. officials and scientists of the
KVKs or Universities.
• Participatory Technology Development can connect farmers with
the scientists leading to need based researches.
Extension Strategies for Development

15. • Involvement of Government Agencies, reputed NGOs and
private sector.
• Diploma Courses: Supplement the efforts of veterinarians at the
grassroot level by providing practical livestock production
guidelines towards developing a sustainable livestock based
enterprise.
• Training of Para-professionals: The training programmes for
para-veterinarians and similarly placed personnel like AI
technicians must be undertaken on regular basis.
• Training of officers/professionals
Capacity Building in Livestock Extension

16. • Prospects of milk and meat value
addition
• Buffalo calves rearing for meat purpose
• Livestock input industry
• Commercial feed and fodder production
• Dry fodder enrichment
• Hay/silage preparation etc.
• Commercial breeding units
• Providing private doorstep AI services
Capacity Building in Livestock Extension
Entrepreneurship and Vocational Training:
• Vocational training of rural youths and farm women
• Development of commercial dairy/sheep/goat/poultry farms

17. Farmers’ training and Farmer led approach:
• Based on participatory mode depending on socio-economic
background of the farmers.
• Progressive farmers after various scientific orientations can be
encouraged to act as extension agents .
Role of Agricultural Specialists:
• Veterinarians can be supported by Agricultural Officers for
knowledge and inputs about agronomy.
• Model successful in the state of Punjab to make aware about
feeding of crop residues; vegetable or fruit wastes etc. with such
programmes.
Capacity Building in Livestock Extension

18. Merging of Extension with
awareness activities:
• Programme or camps like vaccination or
health camp must be merged with
extension activities.
• A carefully designed extension
education campaign initiated before and
after vaccination by the extension
personnel must be promoted.
Capacity Building in Livestock Extension

19. Gender and Livestock Extension:
• Need for matching programmes and
budgeting for women.
• Women Extension workers must be
promoted both in formal and
informal mode.
• Group mobilization approach-
Leading women farmers may be
trained for transfer of technologies
and deployed as women extension
functionaries.
Capacity Building in Livestock Extension

20. • The Women Dairy
Cooperatives can have women
extension workers to act as
para-extension workers for a
community or village with a
minimum honorarium.
• SHGs in Bidar district have
excelled in animal husbandry
and dairying
Capacity Building in Livestock Extension

21. • Infrastructure facilities like hostel,
classrooms, laboratories, audio-
visuals, farms etc.
• Equipments for print, photostat,
content development and validation
mechanism and printing of
extension literature.
• Display boards, Audio-visual aids
and mobile extension vehicles may
also be needed at the hospital level.
Capacity Building in Livestock Extension
Developing Infrastructure in Extension:

22. Role of PPP in Extension:
• PPP- Model for strengthening linkages among stakeholders
• Can act as thought pattern and ‘method of choice’
• MoUs- TANUVAS with dairy farmers for growing the fodder
for seed production
Farmers grow fodder grasses like Bajra, Napier (Co-4), Guinea
grass,(Anjan grass), Fodder sorghum (CoFS-27), Multi cut
fodder Sorghum (CoFS-29), African tall maize, Legumes
(Desmanthus, Stylo, Cowpea) and tree fodder varieties
(Sesbania, Subabul, Glyricidia).
Capacity Building in Livestock Extension

24. MoU of KVAFSU, Bidar with NGO (HKCAL) in
Bidar (Karnataka Livelihood Mission Project)

25. ICT: Changing face of Extension
• Increase effectiveness and efficiency of extension and help
farmers to utilize information in solving their problems.
• Information can be acquired, transmitted and used based on
the need and situations
• Promotion campaigns for adoption of technologies and
practices like AI, vaccination, concentrate mixture feeding etc.
• Interaction through Information Kiosks, Telecentres, toll-free
Call Centres, websites, mobile phones software applications etc.
• New advanced instruments like Personal Digital Assistants for
Extension agents for technical information, communicating,
field recording, database maintenance and scheduling.

26. Different ICT Tools
• Rural Telecentres /VIC
• Mobile telephony
• Information Kiosks
• Social Media Networks- Facebook
etc.
• TV and Radio etc….

27. Rural Telecenters
• Also known as Village Information centres, ‘knowledge
centres’, ‘information centres’, ‘Village Knowledge Centres’,
‘Common Service Centres’, ‘cyber dhabas’ etc.
• Typical centre consists of ICT devices, print media, backup
facility, training and discussion rooms and digital media (CDs)
on agriculture and allied aspects.
• Various govt, non-govt. and private initiatives for ICT enabled
Telecenters.
• Although more than 90,000 centres are operational, yet the
services limit its access to a smaller population.
• Success stories in South Karnataka & Puducherry- Must be
emphasized in other regions.

28. Case of Puducherry
• Rajiv Gandhi College of Veterinary
and Animal Sciences, Puducherry has
developed a touch screen kiosk.
• To provide access to cattle owners to
improve their knowledge on scientific
animal health management.
• Improvement in the health of the
cattle (eg. less cases of mastitis, repeat
breeding and tick infestations) after
utilizing the information from the
kiosk.

30. Advances in Mobile Telephony
• Mobile phone conferencing
• Smart and android mobile phone
applications
• MMS feature with video or photo sharing
• mp3 or mp4 player, sound and video
recorder, camera etc.
• Toll free service
• SMS Alerts
• Mobile advisory services
• Question and answer services
• Radio-dial up services
• Web portals and mobile telephony

31. 31
Sources: IndiaStats, InternetLiveStats, IAMAI, Tencent, Facebook, OSMA
intelligence
@wearesocialsg
INDIAN SOCIAL MEDIA STATS
Social Media Networks

32. • Mark Zuckerberg (Chairman and CEO), Dustin Moskovitz and
Chris Hughes on February 4, 2004

33. A marketing
strategy
Doctor sharing
field experience

34. Facebook for Farmers

35. • Production and marketing of
livestock products
• Need to create basic market
facilities and market information
• Promotion of sheep/poultry
associations
• Interface meet between input
dealers/companies/certification
agencies (feed, milking machine,
etc.) with farmers
Market Driven Approach

36. Integrated Farming System (IFS)
• Contributes to productivity, profitability, employment generation
and bio-resource cycling
• More self supporting, self sufficient and sustainable.

37. • Approach must change from individual to group or association
• Livestock Interest Groups, SHGs or dairy Cooperatives, Joint
Liability Groups- Successful models for effective production or
marketing.
• JLG formation for unemployed women and youth of 18-35 age
group through Karnataka Livelihood Mission
LIG Formation in NAIP Comp 3 project on Livelihood Security through Resource and
Entrepreneurship Management in Bidar District
Group/Association Approach

38. Interventions & Deliverables in NAIP Project
• Community managed A. I. centers
• A.I. service at village level
• Fodder production and utilization
• Demonstration of fodder plots &azolla unit
• Fodder production and introduction of
chaff cutter
• Strategic Supplementation of area specific
mineral mixture and UMMB
• Animal health care service
• Livestock shows/ Exhibitions/ Campaigns

39. Discipline: Dairy Husbandry/ Fodder development
Name & Address : Mallikarjun M Swamy,
R/o Kherda Ta. Aurad Dist. Bidar
Problem: Fodder Scarcity
Intervention: Introduction of improved fodder
varieties
Discipline: Dairy rearing
Name & Address: Gyandao Reddy R/o Wanjarkheda
Ta. Bhalki Dist. Bidar
Problem: Low productivity
Intervention: Technical guidance and Health care
services
Discipline:- Goat rearing
Name & Address: Smt. Shanthabai Balagir Gosavi
Enterprise: Goat husbandry
Intervention: Introduction of Osmanabadi breed
goats
Success stories/Up scalable technologies

40. Farmer Led Approach
• Identify motivated/entrepreneurial
youth farmers /women
• Support through technical guidance and
promote them to act as extension agent
for the village/community
• Encourage farmers by giving incentives
or recognition
• Example- I year- 100 % salary from
govt., II year- 50-50 shared by govt. and
charges from the farmers., III year-
salary/income has to be borne by the
farmer himself by charging fees for his
technical guidance and support)

41. Opportunities for India
• Promote small scale farmers to rear low investment ventures
like sheep, goats etc..
• Tremendous scope for farm diversification
• Need to promote integrated farming
• Extension can disseminate information in various aspects
• Value addition of livestock products
• Re-energizing small holders
• Untapped export potential- Emphasize on advisory services
about latest know-how, market information etc..

43. Conclusion
• AH sector has greater scope and production potential
• No single and specific strategy, but pluristic approach would
work better
• Need to seriously reorient the extension activities depending on
the socio-economic-psychological status of farmers
• Urgent need to develop quality human resource and
infrastructure for effective dissemination
• The grassroot level functionaries must be promoted to perform
extension relevant activities rather than multiple tasks.
• Promotion of innovation system is the need of the hour.
• ICT, PPP, Farmer Led Extension and Farmers’ Associations-
Can be most suitable solutions

44. Thank you