Farmers-oriented Integrated Agricultural Extension System will help farmers double their crop production and triple their income and also bring the latest technologies regularly to their doorstep, according to Collector T.N. Hariharan.
Launching the system at Periyakottai village near here on Wednesday, he said 70 Assistant Agriculture Officers (AAO) would have closer interaction with farmers in all the 308 village panchayats in the district.
Service area of each Agriculture Officer (AO) was divided into eight circles. The AOs would spend the whole day in each circle in his area once in a fortnight. With the fixed schedule, farmers could expect the AOs on the specific day. The officials’ visit would repeat in the same cycle in the third and the fourth weeks of the month.
An interaction centre was established in all the eight circles.
The AOs would form crop-based clusters, each comprising 20 to 25 farmers, at each village. The main objective of the scheme was to improve extension and delivery systems, he added.
The new system would serve two purposes: encourage the farmers to adopt improved agricultural technologies which were relevant to their resources and skills; and enable extension staff and, through them, researchers to get acquainted with farm conditions and problems on a regular basis so that they could improve research relevant to the farmers’ actual needs and recommend solutions, he added.
Joint Director of Agriculture D. Sampath Kumar said designated AAOs would provide inputs during morning field visits. They would stay at the interaction centres in the evening to meet the requirements of the farming community.
If necessary, the AAOs could also rope in researchers for an immediate investigation of farmers’ problems and provide solution to them, he noted.
The scheme was launched in Theni on Monday.
