Book of Extended summaries ISDA

International Conference on Reimagining Rainfed Agro-ecosystems: Challenges &
Opportunities during 22-24, December 2022 at ICAR-CRIDA, Hyderabad
till technology for time saving and reducing the cost of cultivation and maximum utilization of
resources.
T6-34P-1320
Capacity Needs Assessment for Integrating Nutrition Objectives into
Extension Advisory Service (EAS) Programs
Veenita Kumari and Shirisha Junuthula
National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), Telangana-500030, India
Even after several decades of green revolution, malnutrition continues to be a major
development challenge in most of the South Asian countries, and India has a major share of the
malnourished population in the region (Gomez et al. 2013). The nutritional issues in India are
complex and therefore require a multi-faceted, multi-disciplinary solution. One facet of the
solution is enriching knowledge about the causes of and solutions to malnutrition at the farm
and household level, through agricultural extension (Lal, 2020). Disseminating nutritionsensitive
agricultural knowledge is not currently an activity of agricultural extension in India
(Kadiyala et al. 2018), but there is a great potential for integrating it through the wellestablished
network of extension officers.
The objectives of the study are: -
To assess the nutrition and NAS related knowledge, skill, and attitude of the EAS
officers in Agriculture & Allied sectors working at various levels
To identify the learning needs and training priorities among the EAS staff in relation to
NSA
Methodology
An online survey was conducted to assess the learning needs of the officers working at ‘Field
Level Staff (FLS)’ and ‘Mid-Senior Level Staff (MLS)’, to understand their capacities and their
learning needs. The study was conducted with respondents selected across India. These
respondents were the participants who had attended a training program in the past two years
(2018-19) at MANAGE. Due to the ongoing pandemic situation of COVID-19, the survey was
conducted via online mode using Google forms sent to the respondents through email. A total
of 168 responses were received among which, 100 at Mid-senior level and 68 at field level.
Results
The surveyed EAS staff were in the productive age group (30 to above 60 years) so, by
providing the NSA trainings their potential can be enhanced to contribute towards agriculture
and nutrition fields. However, gender wise participation data showed that female participation
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