ASSESSMENT OF TRAINING NEEDS OF AGRICULTURE EXTENSION ASSISTANTS IN RECENT ADVANCES OF EXTENSION EDUCATION: A STUDY IN DIBRUGARH AND TINSUKIA DISTRICTS OF ASSAM
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Date
2017-07
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AAU, Jorhat
Abstract
The economy of the state of Assam is basically based on Agriculture as the dependence of rural labour on Agriculture and allied activities was nearly 53 percent as per population census 2001. Majority of the Assamese community survives on Agriculture and its allied aspects as their livelihood. Improvements in the field of Agriculture is solely dependent upon the improvement of the personnel of the State Departments associated with this discipline. The Agriculture Extension Assistants has to play a vital role in effective transfer of agricultural technology. The Agriculture Extension Assistants has to motivate, educate and guide farmers to adopt new ideas and practices. Keeping this in view, the present study entitled , “Assessment of training needs of Agriculture Extension Assistants in recent advances of Extension Education – a study in Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts of Assam” was undertaken with the major objective of Assessing training needs of Agriculture Extension Assistants in recent advances of Extension Education. The Findings of this study revealed that majority (65.00 %) of the Agriculture Extension Assistants were middle aged .Majority (47.50 %) of the respondents had educational qualification up to HSLC. Majority (62.50 %) of the respondents had Total Service Experience of 13-24 years. Majority (65.00 %) of the respondents had Training Exposure between 3- 14 in their service tenure. It is evident from the study that 100 per cent of the respondents had attended training on Subject Matter, 93.33 percent of them had attended training on Extension Methodology and 61.66 percent on other categories apart from Subject Matter and Extension Methodology. A very high majority (71.67 %) of the Respondents had moderately favourable Attitude towards Extension work. Maximum (74.16 %) Respondents are Moderately Satisfied in their Job. The study revealed that most important Sources of Information of the respondents is the “Progressive farmer”, and the Least Important Source is “Agents of Input Organizations”. The Motivational Profile of the study reveals that “Better Relationship with Superiors of the Department” is the most important Motivational Factor and “Better Relation with Co-Workers” is the least important motivational factor for the Respondents. Majority
(67.50 %) of the Respondents had shown medium Role Conflict. Majority (70.83 %) of the Agriculture Extension Assistants had shown medium level of Role Awareness in their Designation. The Training need areas for AEAs were categorized into ten aspects- Application of ICT Based Extension, Prospects of Market led Extension, Prospects of Group led Extension, Approach to Participatory planning, Perspectives of Human Resource Management, Approach to Liberalization of Economy, Preparation of module for skill development of farmers, Knowledge on Private Extension and Privatization, Perspectives of Farm Journalism and Agri-preneurship Development. The most needed training need areas of Agricultural Extension Assistants identified were – “Fundamentals of Internet Browsing” (WMS= 2.94), “Concept of Market led Extension” (WMS= 2.95), “Promotion and practices of Group farming” (WMS=2.99), “Knowledge on PRA tools” (WMS=2.95), “Mainstreaming gender in Agriculture” (WMS=2.94), “Knowledge on Globalization of Economy” (WMS=2.91), “Formulation of Training design” (WMS=2.95), “Public Private Partnership in Agriculture” (WMS=2.96), “Knowledge and role of Mass Communication” (WMS=2.90), and “Concept of Agripreneurship” (WMS=2.96). The Study conducted revealed that majority (69.16%) of Agriculture Extension Assistants have Medium level of training needs , followed by high level of training needs (20.00%), and low level (10.84%) of Training needs. The findings of Co-relation analysis of the various selected Socio-personal characteristics of Agriculture Extension Assistants and their training needs revealed that Age (r=0.04); Service Experience (r=0.02), Attitude towards Extension Work (r=0.02), Job Satisfaction (r=0.01), Motivational profile (r=0.12), Role Conflict (r=-0.04) was found to be Non significant with Training needs, whereas Role Awareness (r=-0.15) was found to be negatively significant with Training needs.