The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi has an objective to establish Krishi Vigyan Kendra (Farm Science Centre ) in each district of the country. At present, there are 562 KVKs are functioning in country. The mandate of KVK is technology assessment, refinement and demonstration by providing critical inputs to the farmers which enable them to sustain their productivity.
THIS MANDATE IS CARRIED OUT THROUGH THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES:
- Conducting on farm testing for identifying technologies in terms of location specific and sustainable land us systems.
- Organize training to update be extension personnel with emerging advances on regular basis.
- Organizing short and long term vocational training courses in agricultural and allied vocations for the farmers and rural youth with emphasis on “learning by doing” for higher production on farms and generating self employment.
- Organize front-line demonstration on various crops to generate production data and feed back information.
FIVE KRISHI VIGYAN KENDRAS ARE FUNCTIONING UNDER THE ADMINISTRATIVE CONTROL OF UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULUTRAL SCEINCES, RAICHUR AS DETAILED BELOW:
- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Raichur.
- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bidar.
- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Gulbarga.
- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Gangavati, Koppal District.
- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Hagari, Bellary District.
- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Raddewadgi
Each Krishi Vigyan Kendra is Provided with 16 staff headed by the Programme Coordinator ( Associate Professor cadre) and six Subject Matters Specialists (Assistant Professor cadre) in the discipline of crop production, horticulture, plant protection, animal science, soil science, home science, etc along with Farm Manager, Programme Assistant (computer) and one Lab Assistant. Six supporting staff are also provided for smooth functioning of KVK. The KVKs provide intensive hands- on training on various aspects of agricultural and allied fields to encourage rural youth to start the entrepreneurship in their locality.
The Scientific Advising Committee (SAC) is the advisory body to plan and review the progress of KVKs which is headed by the Vice Chancellor as the Chairman. Director of Extension, Zonal Project Director, Zone VIII, ICAR, Bangalore, Officers of the Developmental Departments of the district, two farmers, two farmwomen as the members and the Programme Coordinator of the KVK as a member secretary.
The Zonal Project Directorate, Zone VIII, ICAR, Bangalore will also review the progress made by each KVK constantly.