Source: Kurukshethra Magazine
About ATMA
- ATMA is a registered society responsible for technology dissemination at the district level. It is a focal point for integrating research extension and marketing.
- It decentralized day to day management of the Agricultural Technology System (ATS). It allows receiving and expanding project funds entering into contracts and agreements and maintaining revolving accounts.
- It has also linkage with all the line department research organizations non-governmental organizations and organizations associated with agricultural development in the districts.
- Each ATMA has a governing board. The district collector is the chairman of the board of the ATMA with other district-level officials such as agricultural veterinary fishery etc as a member of the farmers’ woman representative are also taken the ability to take all discussion concerning program planning resource allocation.
- In order to address the key constraints faced by extension system in the country with respect to reducing capacity of public extension services, its lack of decentralized and demand-driven focus, the Innovations in Technology Dissemination component of National Agricultural Technology Project (NATP) was implemented in seven states in the country namely, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Maharashtra and Punjab through four project districts in each State. This component aimed at pilot testing new institutional arrangements for technology dissemination at the district level and below in order to move towards an integrated extension delivery.
The objectives of ATMA are
- To strengthen research – extension – farmer linkages
- To provide an effective mechanism for coordination and management of activities of different agencies involved in technology adaption/validation and dissemination at the district level and below.
- To increase the quality and type of technologies being disseminated.
- To move towards shared ownership of the agricultural technology system by key shareholders.
- To develop new partnerships with private institutions including NGOs.
Salient Features of ATMA :
- Creating Farmer Advisory Committee to improve feedback.
- Using NGOs to organize farmers.
- Encouraging private sector involvement in technology transfer.
- Validation and refining technologies through research units in the district.
- Bottom-up planning procedure.
- Increased use of Information Technology
- In-service training to increase staff competence.
- Developing new Public-Private partnerships.
- Formation and strengthening of farmer’s interest group
Beneficiaries
Individual, Community, Women, Farmers/ Farm Women groups
