Training needs and associated variables of fisheries officials in Kerala and Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

Effective extension system should have a solid technological base to facilitate the adoption of latest technologies by end users. The professional quality of fisheries ex.tension personnel can be improved through training programmes, refresher courses and periodic<Jl meeting with the subject matter specialists in the fisheries research system. Training needs assessment is a prerequisite to prepare effective training strategies. This study was conducted with the specific objective of assessing the training needs oftisheries ex.tension personnel in the subject matter areas of harvest and post harvest fisheries technologies. The data were collected from a randomly selected sample of 40 fisheries extension officials in the Departn1ent of Fisheries, Governrnent of Andhra Pradesh., in 9 coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh, using mailed questionnaires, It was seen that 50% of the respondents possessed post graduation in science as their educational qualification. The average years of service 'm the f1sheries department was found to be 15 with 5 years in marine fisherie. The study revea\ed that the extent of training needs was high (67.83%) for the fish processing subjects. The individual training need index score of the fisheries extension personnel varied from (38.10) to 95.24 with a mean score of 61.17 (SD: 12.97). The thrust areas of training needs have been presented in this paper. Apart from their training needs in fisheries subjects, other associated factor such as, job satisfaction, role performance, availability of organizational facilities and operational constraints in the area of \\lOtk are also discussed detail in this paper.