THE IMPACT OF AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION: THE TRAINING AND VISIT SYSTEM IN INDIA

Abstract

This article reviews the rationale for public sector involvement in the dissemination of technological information to farmers, concluding that free markets do not fully satisfy farmers' information needs, and that government support is justified. Agricultural extension is a principal way that governments can disseminate information, and the World Bank is financing many extension projects throughout the developing world. One specific approach to extension adopted in many Bank extension projects is the Training and Visit (T&V) system. Data from a Bank-sponsored survey in northwest India and from monitoring and evaluation reports issued by several Indian states are used in this article to evaluate T&V extension operations and their impact. Extension agents' interaction with farmers is found to be more intensive and more significant as a source of information in areas covered by T&V extension than in areas with a different extension system. The yield levels of farmers whose main source of information was the T&V extension agent are also shown to be higher. In one case study, the incremental investment in T&V extension is shown to be likely to generate at least a 15 to 20 percent rate of return.