Job stress and constraints of subject matter specialist’s (SMSS) of Krishi Vigyan Kendras

Abstract

Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) a feather in the National Agricultural System is playing a major role in development and dissemination of location specific technologies in agriculture and its allied enterprises to achieve sustainable growth. In Karnataka there are 31 such KVKs catering to the needs of the farmers, where transfer of technologies is by the Subject Matter Specialist (SMS). The present investigation was undertaken to evaluate the job stress, work load and constraints faced by the SMSs in performing their job. All 31 KVKs of Karnataka state were considered for the study. A pre-structured questionnaire was mailed to all the SMS, out of which 120 SMSs responded. Collected data was subjected to appropriate statistical analysis. It was observed from the study that majority (75.83%) of the SMSs had medium level of job stress. The overall job stress index was 65.37, this indicates the SMSs were having job stress to the extent of 65.37 percent. The workload as perceived by the SMSs was heavy. The major constraints faced by the SMSs are too many reports to be written (67.50%), difficulty in disseminating complex technology (61.66%), unavailability of timely budget (61.66%), lack of freedom of expression (57.50%), lack of interest among farmers (51.66%).