Public Private Partnership in Agricultural Extension Management: Experiences of ATMA Model in Bihar and India

Abstract

During the mid-1990s, the Government of India and the World Bank began exploring new approaches to extension that would address these system problems and constraints. The result was a new, decentralized extension approach, which would focus more directly on agricultural diversification and increasing farm income and rural employment. The central institutional innovation that emerged to address these system problems was the Agricultural Technology Management Agency or “ATMA” model that was introduced at the district level.This model was pilot-tested through the Innovations for Technology Dissemination (ITD) component of a World Bank-funded, National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP). Presented are the details about the model and process adopted to implement public-private partnerships in agricultural extension with the help of ATMA model.

Keywords: ATMA Model, NATP, Public-Private Partnership, Agricultural Innovations

JEL Classification: O10, O13, O17, Q16, Q19