Vol. 12, Special Issue 11 (2023)

Author(s):
Seles Kaviya G and Halakatti SV

Abstract:
India's agricultural extension services, dating back to the 1950s, evolved through initiatives like the World Bank's Training and Visit system in 1974. However, challenges led to the launch of the National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) in 1998 with a decentralized, demand-driven approach, spearheaded by the Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA) and Assistant Technology Managers (ATMs) are integral figures at block level. Ex-post facto research design was adopted for the study and All the ATMs working in the seven districts of UAS, Dharwad jurisdiction were selected. Thus the sample size is 95. The findings revealed that more than half (52.22%) of the ATMs held an undergraduate degree. Nearly two-third (63.33%) of the ATMs had medium experience, more than one-third (38.89%) of the ATMs came from a rural background, majority (75.56%) of ATMs had undergone training with a medium duration. With respect to infrastructure facilities, 41.11 per cent of ATMs had access to low infrastructure facilities and nearly half (47.78%) of the ATMs had high level of ICT utilization. There is no dominant self-confidence level among ATMs and 41.11 per cent of the ATMs had medium self-esteem. The large majority (87.78%) of the ATMs had medium level of job involvement and 47.11 per cent of the ATMs had medium level of job satisfaction, Slightly more than one-third of ATMs experienced either low (36.67%) or medium (36.67%) levels of job stress. Majority (57.78%) of ATMs had medium achievement motivation and more than one-third (38.89%) of the ATMs had favourable attitude towards ATMA.