Introduction of Extension

The term extension was first used in the United States of America in the first decade of this century to connote the extension of knowledge from the Land Grant Colleges to the farmers through the process of informal education.In India, the terms community development & extension education became more popular with the launching of Community Development Projects in 1952 & with the establishment of the National Extension Service in 1953. Since then, Community development has been regarded as a programme for an all-round development of the rural people, & extension education as the means to achieve this objective.

Extension education is an applied behavioural science, the knowledge of which is applied to bring about desirable changes in the behavioural complex of human beings usually through various strategies & programmes of change & by applying the latest scientific & technological innovations.

Extension education has now developed as a full-fledged discipline, having its own philosophy, objectives, principles, methods & techniques which must be understood by every extension worker & others connected with the rural development. It might be mentioned here that extension education, its principles, methods & techniques are applicable not only to agriculture but also to veterinary & animal husbandry, dairying, home science, health, family planning, etc. Based upon its application & use, various nomenclatures have been given to it, such as agricultural extension, veterinary & animal husbandry extension, dairy extension, home science extension, public health extension, & family planning extension.