Lok Sabha Question No. 364 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-11-30
Subject: KVKs in Telangana
Ministry: AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
Asked by: Dayakar Pasunoori, Venkatesh Netha Borlakunta, Kavitha Malothu, Gaddam Ranjith Reddy

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH & EDUCATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 364

TO BE ANSWERED ON 30 TH  NOVEMBER, 2021

## KVKs IN TELANGANA

364. SHRI PASUNOORI DAYAKAR: SHRI VENKATESH NETHA BORLAKUNTA: SHRIMATI KAVITHA MALOTHU: DR. G. RANJITH REDDY:

Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE d`f"k vkSj fdlku dY;k.k ea=h be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Ministry is aware that there are only 16 Krishi Vigyan Kendras in Telangana when there are 31 districts in the State;
- (b) if so, whether the Ministry will consider opening more KVKs in districts where there are no KVKs in Telangana;
- (c) whether any impact assessment of KVKs has been done and, if so, the findings of such assessment;
- (d) whether each KVK has to cater to 90-100 villages which the KVK is finding difficult;
- (e) if so, whether the Ministry will consider establishing additional KVKs in the country; and
- (f) if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE

d`f"k vkSj fdlku dY;k.k ea=h

(SHRI NARENDRA SINGH TOMAR)

- (a) & (b) Out of 31 districts in Telangana State,  Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) have been established in 16 districts and presently there is no provision for opening more, KVKs for Telangana State.
- (c) A Third Party evaluation of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) has been carried out by National  Institute  of  Labour  Economics  Research  and  Development  (NILERD),  an autonomous institute under NITI Aayog, in 2015. The major observations and findings of this evaluation are as follows: -
- i. It was observed that KVKs are playing proactive role in transferring new technology at field level with beneficial impacts.
- ii. The KVKs have an edge in technology transfer over other service providers by virtue of having better technical expertise and demonstration abilities.
- iii. About 40 percent farmers reported that they implemented the technology immediately after its dissemination by KVK and that 25 percent did so from the next agricultural season.
- iv. On an average a KVK covers 43 villages and 4300 farmers per year. 80% of villages covered are 10 km away from KVK.

- v. 96% farmers' requests were attended by KVKs.
- vi. 42% technologies adopted by farmers resulted in higher productivity, 33% resulted in high harvest income and 20% resulted in drudgery reduction.
- vii. About 25% of persons trained started self-employment ventures.
- viii. With the intervention by KVKs, about 80 percent of the farmers have modified their agricultural  patterns  which  were  related  to  diversification  of  crops  and  changes  in cropping pattern, seed planting technique, use of fertilizers and pesticides, changes in machinery used and in water use pattern.

Further,  NILERD  conducted  categorization  study  of  the  KVKs  on  the  basis  of mandated  activities,  impact  of  the  activities,  allied  activities,  accolades  and  other parameters in 2018. The study categorized the KVKs as A, B, C and D. Best performing KVKs (43%) were rated as 'A' followed by 48% KVKs as 'B' and 9% as 'C' & 'D'.

Besides, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) evaluated the KVKs in 2019. Major findings of the Study are as follows:

- i. KVKs' efforts generated an additional net farm income of Rs. 3568 per hectare.
- ii. Cost Benefit ratio is 1:7.8. Thus, the rate of return on expenditure on KVK is very high.
- iii. One  farmer  trained  by  a  KVK  disseminates  technology/knowledge  to  30  fellow farmers.

Recently  in  2020,  Indian  Society  of  Agribusiness  Professionals,  New  Delhi  also conducted study on impact evaluation of KVKs. Major findings of the study are as follows:

- i. On an average, KVK outreach found to be around 90-100 villages. With its strong ICT interventions, the outreach to villages increases to even 200 villages per KVK.
- ii. There is increase in outreach programs by KVKs from 2012-13 to 2019-20 in number of on farm trials by 51%, frontlines demonstrations by 61%, farmers trained by 16% and extension personnel trained by 35%.
- iii. There is increase in proportion of farm women in trainings from 30% in 2012-13 to 37% in 2019-20.
- iv. There is 142% increase in the number of short messages sent from 2012-13 to 201920. Similarly, there is increase in the number of the farmers covered from the year 2012-13 to 2019-20 by 135% with the advent of the digital technologies such as WhatsApp group, Facebook group which has increased the outreach by 4 times.
- v. There is 32% increase in seed production and 117% increase in planting material production by KVKs during the said period.

(d) KVKs are mandated for frontline extension which act as a bridge between research organizations and the main extension system operated by different development departments of the State Governments. Considering the role and resources of a KVK, it caters  to  the  requirement  of  the  selected  farmers  of  the  district  and  provide  capacity development support to State Development Departments. The coverage of entire district is the responsibility of development departments of State Governments. However, the Indian Society of Agribusiness Professionals, in its Third Party Evaluation, has reported that on an average, KVK outreach found to be around 90-100 villages. With its strong ICT interventions, the outreach to villages increases to even 200 villages per KVK.

(e) & (f) So  far,  727  KVKs  have  been  established  and  there  is  a  provision  of establishing 18 more KVKs in the country. State wise list of districts for KVKs provisioned is given in Annexure-I .

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## State wise list of districts for KVKs provisioned

| Name of State        | Name of District                   |
|----------------------|------------------------------------|
| Dadra & Nagar Haveli | Silvasa                            |
| Daman & Diu          | Daman, Diu                         |
| Haryana              | Palwal, Mewat, Panchkula           |
| Jammu & Kashmir      | Ramban, Udhampur                   |
| Puducherry           | Mahe                               |
| Rajasthan            | Sriganganagar, Jalore, Pali, Sikar |
| Uttarakhand          | Pithoragarh, Chamoli               |
| West Bengal          | Bankura, Birbhum, Bardhaman        |