Participants during Practicals / Field Visits 

Objectives  

• Orientation on location specific crop production technologies of broad based  agriculture and specific package of practices related to field problems.

• Capacity building of Input dealers in efficient handling of Inputs.

• To impart the knowledge about the laws governing regulation of Agricultural Inputs.

• To make them effective source of farm information at village level (one stop shop) for the farmers / farm women.

Benefits of the Programme 

• Technical capacity and Communication Skills of Input-dealers will be developed so as to impart proper technical advise to the farmers.

• Increase the awareness of the dealers regarding their regulatory responsibilities.

• Input dealers with a diploma will act as base level extension worker while serving as Input dealers.

Methodology  

• Distance Education mode was adopted with class room interactions and  field visits on every Sunday (market holiday) for 48 Sundays approximately.  Supply of study material, using multi-media instructional devices with the help of experts in the field as Resource Persons was also adopted.   As indicated in the HRD Project Report of  Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), under Distance Education mode,  a diploma course requires 32 credit hours and each credit hour is equal to 30 hours of the study time of the participant.  DAESI programme is covering about 36 credit hours. 

Contents and Coverage  

• The course is so designed to suit the requirement of input dealers and prospective dealers of 10 + 2 standard. 

• To make the dealers technically more competent, topics like agro-climatic conditions, soils, soil analysis, land use planning, Integrated Nutrient Management (INM), Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and Crop Production Technology in respect of all crops being grown in the district, including horticultural crops, vegetable crops, floriculture, Farm mechanization etc., were included in course.

• To improve Communication Skills, few lectures on Extension Education,  Extension Methods, diffusion and adoption of innovation, Role of  Mass Media etc., were dealt.

• For individual    development, few topics on Importance of Meditation for mind control and thought process, Business Principles, Business Ethics were taught.  General topics like National Integration, Privatization, Liberalization, Globalization, WTO regime etc., were also covered. 

• To make them to discharge regulatory responsibilities enjoined on them, Laws related to Agricultural Inputs, E.C. Act,  Consumer Protection Act, Limitation Act, C.P.C., Cr. P.C. etc., were dealt at length.

Evaluation

The course is evaluated for assessing the performance of the participants as detailed hereunder:  

• Each candidate has maintained a practical record book for all the practical classes.  A record of drawings and sketches of important insect pests & the damage symptoms caused by them is maintained.

• Six bi-monthly quiz tests of objective in nature were conducted  for evaluating class room Performance

• Half-yearly  and annual examinations with Questions requiring descriptive answering were conducted.

•  

• A final practical examination consisting of skill demonstration, spotting, viva-voce was conducted.

Weightages allotted  were as under :

Theory	:	Quiz	-	20 Marks
		Half-years	-	30 Makrs
		Annual	-	50 Marks
		Total	-	100 Marks
Practicals	:	Record Book	-	10 Marks
		Drawings & Sketches	-	10 Marks
		Spotting	-	10 Marks
		Skill Performance	-	10 Marks
		Viva	-	10 Marks

The candidates to qualify the Diploma  have to maintain 80% of attendance and score 40% of  the  marks.  Candidates who  do not qualify shall take up half-yearly, annual theory and final practicals with the candidates of subsequent batches so as to qualify for award of diploma.  Candidates who have scored 60% and above were given 1st  Class and  80% and above 1st Class with distinction.

Eligibility

Highlights

• 46 dealers of Ranga Reddy District in two batches have successfully completed and diplomas were awarded to them
• Third Batch with 34 dealers of Ranga Reddy District is completing the course by September, 2005
• In Tamil Nadu one batch is completed and diplomas were awarded to 18 dealers. Second batch is running at Coimbatore.
• In Andhra Pradesh this programme is being spread to various districts. As on the date eight batches are being run in seven districts, besides the batches of Rangareddy District run at MANAGE. They are

1.	Adilabad	-	1
2.	Karmimnagar	-	2
3.	Warangal	-	1
4.	Guntur	-	1
5.	Prakasam	-	1
6.	West Godavari	-	1
7.	Krishna	-	1
	TOTAL		8

• One batch each at Vijayawada and Warangal has started on 25-06-2005 and 26-06-2005 respectively.
• Fourth batch has started at MANAGE to the dealers of Medak and Mahaboobnagar districts who are within the vicinity of 50 kms from MANAGE on 30-06-2005