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The growth of Indian agriculture is dependent on 103 million farm families cultivating 140 million hectares of land. It is impossible to reach such a huge number of farmers. The effective dissemination and transfer of appropriate technologies to needy farmers is very much essential for increasing agricultural production in the country. It is very difficult for farmers to gather latest information of technologies from various research institutes. Keeping this in view the INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, NEW DELHI granted its sanction for establishment of KRISHI VIGYAN KENDRA ( the farm science centre) in MAY 1992. however the actual implementation of its programmes could be started during March 1993 only and established a network of 376 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) in the country covering most of the districts to function as single window system, where all information’s are made available to the needy farmers of the region.
Before launching its programmes and activities, a Bench mark survey of the selected villages was done to make a Socio economic appraisal and to understand the existing practices of the farmers. This enabled the KVK to identify the technological gaps and critical needs and requirements of the farmers. This formed the basic for farming operational modalities like training , demonstration and on farm trials by the KVK. Simultaneously the farm development work was also started as an important requirement for the strengthening of training cum demonstration infrastructure of the KVK.
Apart from conducting these demonstrations various innovative approaches were undertaken for providing the environment friendly packages to meet the farmers problem. An overwhelming response of the farmers to these eco-friendly practices later paved the way for forming various farmers interest groups and self help groups. These informal groups of self experimenting farmers that provides an opportunity for sharing their innovations and practices among themselves. Further the KVK started the Innovative Farm Women's Club for involvement of farm women in the dissemination of various technological interventions at faster rate.
The KVK has excelled in bringing the modern technological packages at the farmers doorstep with the help of various instructional units. The KVK today has sufficient resources to impart training skills for not only the farmers but also the rural youth. The training schedule typically incorporates the existing needs and problems of the farmers for making a positive impact. The trainings are conducted both at the on-campus and off-campus locations. It invariably emphasizes on providing both the short term as well as long durational courses specifically to impart practical orientation to these courses. The KVK has started the instructional units for not only imparting the skills but also for providing the critical inputs as per the demand and need of the farmers. Wherever the response of the farmers to technologies under the Lab to Land Programmes and the on-farm-trials demonstrated by the KVK was multifold the need to take the assistance from the other funding agencies arose. The KVK took bold initiatives in convincing different State and Central Govt. funding agencies to provide the financial support to undertake the innovative schemes and projects for further extending the extension programmes outside the purview of the KVK selected villages.
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