Announcement of IDA Assists Agricultural Extension in India on December 14, 1978

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE~. eWorldBank 1818 H Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20433, U.S.A. • Telephone: (202) 393~6360 I DA NEWS RELEASE NO. 79/27 DECEMBER 14, 1978 IDA ASSISTS AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION IN INDIA Some 6.8 million farm families in India's Gujarat, Haryana and Karnataka States will be served by a reformed agricultural extension system being assisted by a credit of $25 million from the International Development Association (IDA), an affiliate of the World Bank. The improved agricultural extension system will contribute to increased crop production and farm incomes. The Training and Visit System (T&V Svstein) of agricultural extension is in various stages of implementation in several States in lndia--W~ ~t Bengal, Orissa, Assam, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan. In all of these states the T&V System is being • introduced with IDA assistance" At present, the T&V System covers about 13 mi 11 ion farm fami 1 ies (approximately 80 mi 11 ion people in India) . When they are fully developed, the existing !DA-assisted projects will serve over 22 million farm families out of a total of 70 million in India, and wi 11 cover 35 million hectares of crop land. Early results in areas where the T&V System is being implemented are very encouraging, both in terms of adoption of improved farm practices and in terms of increased crop yield. The project being assisted by the IDA credit will help to reorganize and strengthen agricultural extension services in the three States and strengthen the Government of India's Directorate of Agricul- tural Extension in order to increase its ability to support State Agri- cultural extension programs. The IDA credit to India is for 50 years, including a 10-year grace period. It is interest free except for a service charge of 3/4 of 1% to meet IDA's administrative costs. NOTE: Money figures are expressed in U.S. dollar equivalents • • FORM NO. 1121 (5-76) T E C HN I CA L D A T A PROJECT: COUNTRY: TOTAL COST: Composite Agricultural Extension India $53.4 million • IDA FINANCING: $25 million credit, standard IDA terms OTHER FINANCING: Government of India Participating State Governments IMPLEMENTING ORGANIZATIONS: Agriculture, Forests, and Cooperation Department Sachivalaya Gandhinagar Gujarat, India Agriculture Department Civil Secretariat Chandigarh Haryana, India Agriculture and Husbandry Department Vidhana Saudha PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Bangalore 560 001 Karnataka, India. The project will: (i) reorganize and strengthen agricul- tural extension services in the three project States, • with the objective of achieving early and sustained improvements in agricultural pro- duction, particularly of foodgrains; and (ii) strengthen the Central Government's Directorate of Agricultural Extension in order to increase its ability to support State agricultural extensfon programs. PROCUREMENT: Civil works and equipment contracts will be on the basis of local competitive bidding. ECONOMIC RATE OF RETURN 50% ESTIMATED COMPLETION DATE: 1985 - 0 - •