The Tuki Extension System

• The system was implemented with the recruitment of volunteers “The Tukis” to the VDC after an intensive 15-days long progressive farmers training. They received four trainings in a year before the agriculture seasons
• The main features of Tuki system are as follows:

a) This system did not generate new technologies for use by the farmers but relied on technologies developed by commodity research programmes in the country and screened them through the conduct of adaptive trials in the three agricultural farms by the researchers in the project districts.

b) A package of seeds and fertilizers was also distributed to test their suitability in the local condition. Then the researchers met with the extension staff to relay the results of the trials conducted. Farmers trainings were conducted at quarterly basis with the involvement of researchers.

• Volunteers were called ‘Tukis’ who had high respect within the community, with willingness to help their farmer neighbors in modern technologies, who maintained their own model farms, and distributed agricultural inputs to farmers and who were also interested to interact with neighbors regarding modern farming issues.
• The Tuki system, however, did not expand beyond the two project districts, and the operation, since it was basically the conventional approach described earlier, after IHDP was phased out in 1990.