KVK Bharatpur

Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kumher, Bharatpur

Sri Karan Narendra Agriculture University, Jobner, Jaipur Raj.
Office– 05644-240691 (Telefax)

Website: www.kvkkumher.in, Email–pc.kvk.kumher@sknau.ac.in

For complete details please visit KVK Kumher official website www.kvkkumher.in

Dr. Amar Singh, Programme Coordinator, KVK Kumher-Bharatpur. He was gold medallists in Graduation and did his Doctorate from SKNCOA, Jobner. He started his carrier as Agronomy scientist at ARS Navgaon, Alwar in the year of 1986 and served as Assistant Professor (1986-2001), Associate Professor (2001-2009) and Professor Agronomy in the year of 2009 at Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Kumher, Bharatpur. He served the university in as different capacity ARSS Incharge, KVK Incharge and presently working as Dean, College of Agriculture, Bharatpur (SKNAU, Jobner) from July, 2013.

Dr. Amar Singh has published 19 research papers and 23 popular articles in National & International journals and magazines, manuals, book chapters. He prepared 51 folders and pamphlets and he has written a book of Agronomy for school education and also edited one book as co-editor. Dr. Singh presented more than 30 papers in International, National, Workshop, Symposium, Seminar and Conference.

Dr. Singh is a distinguished scientist and expert and he always spare his time and energy for giving the Rainfed based farming system for Flood Prone Eastern Plain Zone- IIIb of Rajasthan. Dr Singh included 18 research recommendations in the package of practices in Zone IIIb. Dr. Singh is a master trainer of Agronomy in Zone IIIb, and member of Academic Council SKRAU, Bikaner from 2003 to 2007, Convenor of diagnostic team.

Dr Singh is also working as Principle Investigator of National Initiatives on Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) Project.

About KVK Kumher

Krishi Vigyan Kendra is a district level institution engaged in transfer of latest agricultural technologies to the end users for bridging the gap between production and productivity. It works through partnership mode with allied departments and agencies. The KVK Kumher was established on 2^nd October, 1988 under the administrative control of the Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner, Rajasthan and presently works under the cammand of SKN Agriculture Univeristy, Jobner, Jaipur. Since inception this KVK has been endeavoring for the upliftment of socio economic condition of the farming community of the district through scientific intervention in the agricultural and allied sectors.

The prime goal of KVK Kumher is to accelerate agricultural and allied production in the operational area besides imparting training as per needs and requirements of the farmers, farm women and rural youths including school drop-outs in the rural areas for self employment and enhancing the productivity. KVK is to reduce the time lag between generation of technology at the research institutions and it's transfer to the farmer's field for increasing production, productivity and income from the agriculture and allied sectors on a sustained basis. “Teaching by doing” and “learning by doing” through work experience is the principle methods of imparting skill training programme.

Krishi Vigyan Kendra: A Ray of Hope for Farmers

The initial mandate of KVK is to provide vocational training in agriculture and related subjects to practicing farmers, farm women, rural youth and in-service extension personnel. The target group population for training was tribal and small and marginal farmers. 

The initial objectives of the KVK were:

1. To organize short and long term training course for increased farm production and improved home life and living.

2. To develop a programme of outreach into remote tribal areas, to identify marginal and small farmers and train them through work experience on the ICAR,KVK demonstration units.

3. To initiate the trainees into agricultural know-how considering them needs and constraints of the tribal villages in the areas of:

           a) Crop, fruit and vegetable farming,

           b) Development of allied agriculture production activity-poultry, dairying, and goat rearing.

           c)  Initiating group approach (SHG,s) among the farmer’s for their livelihood development .

            d) Developing the entrepreneurial skills among the rural peoples through different income generation activities.

4. To develop training programme for women to enhance their skill and integrate their effort with the other members of the family towards increasing farm production and income generation.

5. To link the training with follow up programmes, to measure and monitor the actual impact of training in terms of improvement in agricultural and ailed production activities through built in interdisciplinary approach.

Thrust Areas of KVK Kumher

Mandates of KVK Kumher:

• Conducting on-farm testing to identify the location specificity of agricultural technologies under various farming systems
• Organizing frontline demonstrations to establish production potential of various crops and enterprises on the farmers’ fields
• Organizing need based training of farmers to update their knowledge and skills in modern agricultural technologies related to technology assessment, refinement and demonstration and training of extension personnel to orient them in the frontier areas of technology development 
• Creating awareness about improved technologies to larger masses through appropriate extension programmes
• Production and supply of good quality seeds and planting materials, livestock, poultry and fisheries breeds and products and various bio-products to the farming community 
• Work as resource and knowledge centre of agricultural technology for supporting initiatives of public, private and voluntary sector for improving the agricultural economy of the district

Identification of training needs and Sector wise training needs:

In order to explore the specific training needs of the farmers, bench mark surveys of selected farm families are conducted. The questionnaires developed by the Extension scientist which suit the needs of the area and the nature of the population, the tribal. The questionnaire was administered to the farmers of the selected villages and the most favored areas of training expressed by them discipline wise are as follows:

A)      AGRONOMY

• Improved varieties of seeds.
• Soil and seed treatment
• Fertilizer application
• Intercultural operations
• Irrigation management
• Plant protection measures

B)     HORTICULTURE

•    High yielding varieties of vegetables and fruits
•    Plant protection
•    Irrigation and weed management
•    Post Harvest Technology 

C)    AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION & MANGEMENT                     

• Bench Mark Survey, Participatory Rural Appraisal(PRA)
•  Leadership and Capacity building
•  Group dynamics and their Management 
•  Formation of SHGs and use in their livelihood improvement
•  Formation of farmers club and their role in community development
•  Develop Market Led Extension Services
• Froward and Future Market Linkages

D)    ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

• Breeding, Feeding and Management
• Disease control and health care
• Silage and Hay making
• Dairy management, Piggery management and Poultry Management

E)     PLANT PROTECTION         

• IPM and IDM in crops ,vegetables and fruit trees
•  Mushroom Production
• Disease Oriented Survey (DOS) of major crops.

F)    HOME SCIENCE

• Nutrition and child care
• Storage of food grains
• Income generating activities
• Flower cultivation
• Processing and preservation of fruits and vegetables
• Stitching and  Knitting activities 

SWOT Analysis of KVK Institute

SWOT analysis is one of the modern management tools to analyze the Strength (S), Weakness (W), Opportunities (O) and Threat (T) of an organization which may be engaged either in product development or production or making or services. It has also been found useful in analysis other non-commercial, development or research and Development (R&D) organization.

Analysis of Strengths

The KVK is a unique institution for the transfer of agriculture technology to disseminate scientific and technological information, educating and motivating the farmers to adopt latest agricultural technological. It has no parallel in the country as far as its structural and functional paradigm is concerned. On critical analysis, it is seen that the KVK project is an institutional in nature, lay emphasis on skill based vocational training, comprehensive in approach covering all facets of prevailing farming systems in the country, farm based model providing real life field condition for learning and teaching, in built research–extension linkages, involves participatory management, to plan and implement need based programmes and activities, and has multidisciplinary team of scientists using inter-disciplinary approach to study and solve the field problems in participatory mode. It also has a mechanism of providing feed back and feed forward and is culture free concept or transfer of technology. The KVK, Kumher fits well with all the distinct points of strength. Over and above, it has also attained maturity, confidence and competence by experimenting with latest methodologies of transfer of technology such as farmer-led extension approach, Government and other non government organization partnership in assessing and redefine the agricultural technology to suit the bio-physical and socio-cultural setting of tribal and small and marginal farmers and farm women dovetailing indigenous Technical Know-How (ITK), farmers Participatory Research and Extension (FPR&E),addressing gender issues and sensitization process etc.    

Analysis of Weakness

In recent times, the farming enterprises has become quite and challenging on account of fast changing technological developments and sophistication. In view of this, the technological back stopping of KVK scientist is of paramount importance to under take demand driven agricultural extension and research agenda. At present the KVK  Kumher is not fully equipped with new IT equipments and the area is too limited for developing or establishing the demonstration new units for extends the benefits to the farming community. Presently, the KVK Kumher is not fully covered by the boundary so that the existing plots has damaged by the outsiders and the animals. The present financial inadequacy is another weakness which hampers the KVK to venture out on large area to cover higher number of clients. The leadership, team work and the inter and intra-communication and coordination in planning and implementing the mandated activities of the KVK Kumher are other spot in the KVK network. 

Analysis of Opportunities:

Opportunities for KVK Kumher are many and varied. The productivity per unit of area is low and there is a growing problem of under and unemployment among rural people. For using these opportunities, the KVK Kumher need to identify the gaps and the needs and the technologies which could help them to solve these problems. This may require planned interventions in the rural areas with due consideration to prevailing farming systems and situations. The area specific technologies and enterprises need to identified and inventoried for better execution and tackling the problems. Marketing linkages for sale their products is also big and challenging opportunity for the KVK Kumher to provide the awareness among the farmers and they can get good price of their produces.

Analysis of Threats

In view of the changed economic environment of the country due to globalization, the KVK Kumher need to play a vital role in educating and motivating the farmers not only in the production technology of quality produce but also in the post harvest technology, value addition, packaging, transport and marketing. This calls for proper orientation and technical updating of the present KVK Kumher scientists. They also need to be sensitized in issue like participatory technology department (PTD), blending indigenous technical know-how (ITK), gender issues, demand-driven agricultural extension and research agenda, income generating activities for rural people including tribal, rural women and school dropouts. The emphasis is also to be laid in incubating the qualities like team-work, commitment towards the rural people, leadership and dedication. Further, the linkages between KVK Kumher and Research organizations and other relevant line department needs to be strengthened and participatory in view of privatization of research, extension and input management.

There is a fear of obsolesce of KVK Kumher ,  if KVK Kumher  do not get transformed as a nerve centre with the use of modern information technology and computer application to satiate the needs and aspiration of the farmers by providing appropriate informational intelligence. These are some of the threats which have to be confronted by the KVK Kumher in near future. 

INNOVATION IN EXTENSION

Krishi Vigyan Kendra Kumher strategy on Extension approaches is based on the conviction that development programme can only be effective when the clients, namely rural Communities and development organization providing services to these communities, are involved in the entire process of planning and implementation. Further, the process itself should be sufficiently flexible to accommodate a variety of client need and capacities as well as changes over time .It may be noted that this strategy is consistent with the initial objectives for which KVKs were setup.

A central feature of KVK Kumher strategy is the provision of training, advisory and associated support services to organization working at the village level to enable them to

• More effectively build farmer participation into their activities;
• Access information on technologies and sources of input required to implement farmer directed programme of experiments and development;
• Participants in government which match the needs of specific communities as well as influenced the substance of those programme; and
• Collaborate with one another.

The strategy is supportive to the current National and Government of Rajasthan, policies and programme for agricultural development including decentralization of research and extension .It is also closely associated with efforts to promote collaboration and more meaningful participation of non-government oraganisations (NGOs), the private sector and rural communities in development activities. Most importantly, the strategy is an outgrowth of KVK’s own experiences in agricultural development and its involvement in collaborative initiatives during the past few years. The strategy itself will be the focus of continuing consultation with partner organization, both government and NGO, aimed at further enhancing its relevance and feasibility. Krishi Vigyan Kendra is working under the umbrella of ICAR and SKARU, Bikaner. The working strategy of Kumher, KVK (SKNAU) was developed the collaborative partnership with development organization requiring individually tailored support services offer a means by which KVK Kumher can enhance both its potential contribution to agricultural development as well  as its own institutionally sustainability in the years ahead.

The strategy has had three broad focus areas:

i) Farmer Participation in Research and Extension :( including its associated institutional structures)

ii) Gender (including creation of women groups to specifically work agriculture related issues.)

iii) Revamping of existing training programme (including increased M&E  and quantitative reduction in training  programme)

Vision of KVK Kumher

GREEN IDEOLOGY

Sustainability is the key element in this vision. The KVK Kumher believes that the methods and technologies used to ensure sustainability in agriculture must be organic and environment friendly. Therefore, in all its programs and training programs, the KVK Kumher tries to develop a dialogue with the farming community about the hazards ingrained in the practice of chemical agriculture and improper exogenous market-driven farming systems, which have been usurping the socially, culturally and economically well adapted local systems. The KVK Kumher constantly strives to explore the alternatives to the follies of the green revolution by collaborating with the institutions, which think along similar lines, and by conducting independent participatory farming research with the local farmers, to discover and unravel the treasures of indigenous technical knowledge of this region.

GENDER

It is a well-established truth today that more than 90% of farm and housework is the responsibility of women. In hill farming, women carry out more than 70% of farm operations, conserve bio-diversity through various interventions, preserve seeds, take care of the livestock and are responsible for various innovations in simple farm implements and farm operations. Therefore, the main target group for the Kumher KVK’s training programs is farm-women. These programs go through participatory planning to enable transfer of necessary skills to reduce the drudgery of women both at the farm and at home.

INDIGENOUS TECHNOLOGY (LOCAL)

Many development models of the green revolution  and self sufficiency policies having crashed, there is a growing interest among the development practitioners and farm scientists to take a closer look at the local traditions and build new models based on the strengths of these institutions and technologies. Today, this global phenomenon has uncovered huge treasures of traditional knowledge systems. The KVK Kumher feels privileged to be a part of this new exploration of traditions and has given top priority for collection, documentation, adaptation, demonstration and propagation of vibrant traditional technologies in its research, demonstration and training.

POORER POPULATION

The target group of the KVK Kumher constitutes the socially and economically poorer sections of the tribal community. This section of population has been constantly bypassed by the traditional modes of extension and information, which have in-built biases towards the rich and the influential.

Therefore, the KVK Kumher strongly believes that to make a dent in rural development, it should address all its programmes to this section of resource-poor, under-informed, socially disadvantaged groups.

FOOD SECURITY

This area is of predominantly rice-based cropping systems which demand less inputs, adapt to high and erratic rainfall and marginal and sub-marginal soils, and are also nutritionally rich. With the introduction of market- driven cropping patterns and intensive agriculture with high inputs, local crops and food habits are changing fast. Consequently, more and more lands are going fallow, and are being left at the mercy of the vagaries of the nature. As a result, the dependence on external supply of food grains is increasing. Therefore, it is imperative to revive the situation, improve the productivity of the fallow lands and encourage the oilseed and other cereal crops like Maize etc., along with pulses, to ensure local food security. The KVK Kumher has a major role to play in transferring the reliable and adaptable technology to increase the productivity of the soils as well as that of the crops.

INCOME GENERATION

Various farm- based and non-farm-based avocations would be a supplementary and /or the main source of income. The skills and information about these would be transferred to the farm- women and rural youth, to enable them take up such activities and to improve their income level.

RURAL YOUTH

Rural Youth are the potential, energetic and powerful force of a village, but unfortunately, in a majority of the cases, they are the most under- utilized, misguided and disillusioned group. Appropriate counseling, motivation, training and encouragement would certainly prove to be successful in molding them as useful citizens, which would benefit the village enormously. The KVK, therefore, aims to target the youth, besides the farmwomen.

PRODUCTION

The KVK Kumher sets its sights on formulating methods, which would restore and protect the native virtues of the land through the traditional system of agriculture, while cherishing the richness and creativity of local knowledge.

Extension Initiatives: KVK Kumher has been taken so many initiative for the welfare of farmer of Bharatpur district:

1. KVK  Kumher Started their own farmers Message Service:

This is very interesting to note that KVK Kumher has started Kisan Mobile Message Service

( KMMS) to create awareness and timely solution of agricultural problems of farmers, till now KVK has registered more than 5500 farmers, farmwomen and extension personnel from Bharatpur district,  covering all blocks and nearly 300 villages. Messages are delivered at fortnightly interval related to seasonal problems of Crops, Livestock, Plant protection, Horticulture and Home science.

A milestone has been set by KVK, Kumher being the first KVK in Zone IIIb to send voice message to the farmers in different agricultural sector. The system has been developed in collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur as

E-learning  material. The advantage of this service over text message which has already been appreciated by Progressive Farmers and Krishak Mitras is that even illiterate farmer can comprehend the   technology related messages   and alerts in local language. In this sservice 100 krishak Mitras and Progressive farmers of the district were selected. Dr. Manish Kanwat Assitant Profesor (Incharge of KMSS and Voice Call Service) said that our target is to extend the benefits to entire farming community of the Bharatpur district.  

1. IARI Post office Linkage Project:

KVK Kumher has also selected for implementing the project on “IARI-Post Office Linkage Model” in the district of Bharatpur. This project has unique characteristics with selecting the remotest villages in the district and it helps to provide the best IARI varieties to the farmers of different regions and different districts, and it is funded by IARI. Under this project Bharatpur district, 10 post offices were selected for providing the good quality seed material to the farmers end. Very shortly KVK is going to organize one day workshop on IARI –Post office linkge Model and brief about the benefits of this project and their project activities to the selected Post Masters alongwith the both the superintendents of Bharatpur division and Dholpur division.  Dr, Manish Kanwat, Assistant Professor (Agril.Extension) is looking this project being as Co-PI.

KVK Bharatpur