Does extension receive sufficient attention when we attempt to disseminate agricultural information?

The economic benefit of extension work was highlighted in 1995 by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI, Rosegrant and Evenson, 1995). The authors show that public research, extension expenditures, irrigation and foreign private research each have a statistically significant, positive impact on the Total Factor Productivity (TFP) in India between 1956 until 1987.

Source: Rosegrant, M. and R.E. Evenson. Total factor productivity and sources of long-term growth in Indian agriculture. 1995. EPTD discussion paper No. 7. International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI ), Washington, USA.

Preliminary synthesis of farmers' attitude and preferences towards nutrient application in China and India
Magen, H., Imas, P. and S. Bansal. 2007. A paper presented at the IFA meeting on Fertilizer Best Management Practices (FBMP), Brussels, 7-9 March 2007.

Abstract: IPI has initiated the distribution of a questionnaire to several hundred farmers in villages and locations across India and in two locations in East China, and to approximately a hundred fertilizer dealers in India. The results were compiled and compared between the two countries, and in some cases, between villages of the same country. The results show that Chinese farmers rarely avoid the annual application of N, P, K and OM, when compared with farmers in India. About 40% of farmers asked in India add potassium 'sometimes' or 'never', while 10% only apply 'sometimes' in China. The use of a soil test was highly varied between the various locations in India, but was very low in the two locations surveyed in China. Dependence on precipitation and the socio economic level of farmers strongly affects the use of nutrients and consumption of services such as soil test.

The full paper will be an IFA published proceeding. But in the meantime, we learned that in each farming community there is a need to carefully identify, through participatory approach, the most adequate and beneficial channel of dissemination of agricultural knowledge. It is indeed the "last-mile delivery" that counts.

"What considerations lead policymakers to invest in agricultural extension as a key public responsibility, and what factors and agency incentives explain differences in extension system performance? A conceptual framework is used to analyze several extension modalities and their likely and actual effectiveness. The analysis highlights the efficiency gains that can come from locally decentralized delivery systems with incentive structures based on largely private provision, although in most poorer countries extension services will remain publicly funded".

Quoted from: Anderson, J. & G. Fedder. 2004. Agricultural Extension: Good Intentions and Hard Realities. The World Bank Research Observer, vol. 19, no. 1 (2004), pp. 41-60. See also at http://wbro.oxfordjournals.org/