Training Needs of Agricultural Extension Personnel in Meghalaya

The changing scenario in agriculture, economy and communication has also increased the need for improving the skills of extension personnel. The first step in improving the skills of extension personnel would be to assess their training needs. The study was conducted in the year 2011-12. The present study was conducted in the Department of Agriculture and the three districts of Meghalaya viz., Ri Bhoi, Jaintia Hills and West Garo Hills were purposively selected for the study. The respondents were the Agricultural Demonstrators and the Horticultural Demonstrators and the sample size was 70. The important training need areas identified in order of importance are Soil Science, Entomology, Agronomy, Plant Pathology, Nematology and Horticulture. Correlation analysis has shown that age, service length, job performance and training exposure had a negative and significant correlation with training needs. Thus, variables like age, service length, job performance and training exposure could be considered while conducting training as these variables had significant correlation with the training needs of the respondents. As the training needs of extension personnel changed over time, training needs assessment should also be done on a regular basis and the important areas in which the extension personnel needs training should be considered while planning training for the extension personnel. Thus, appropriate measures should be taken by the department and other training institutions in addressing their grievances.

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