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Department of Agricultural Extension Education, S.V. Agricultural College, ANGRAU, Tirupati – 517 502
Agri-Input Dealers in the country are a prime source of farm information to the farming community, besides the supply of inputs and credit. The Diploma in Agricultural Extension. Services for Input Dealers (DAESI) was developed by the National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE) with the aim of transforming agri-input dealers into para-extension professionals. These dealers, who play a crucial role in rural areas, are the second most important source of agricultural information for farmers after progressive farmers. By imparting systematic knowledge through remote education, MANAGE seeks to enhance the technical capabilities of these input dealers and empower them to provide efficient and effective extension services to farmers. The results of the study shown that majority (82.23%) of the agri-input dealers were in middle age, graduates (55.55%), medium experience as a agri-input dealer (71.12%), medium level of extension contact (71.11%), mass media exposure (70.11%), social participation (64.44%), information-seeking behaviour (73.33%), and awareness on government programmes (62.23%), majority (96.67%) of input dealers did not received any trainings other than DAESI programme, many of them were retailers(73.33%), high level of decision making (83.34%) and cent per cent under non-profit motive.
KEYWORDS: Agri-input dealers, utilization pattern, DAESI.