Assessment of Current Competency Level of Agricultural Extension Advisors in Federal Nepal

In the present context of 21 century, modernization in the agriculture sector demands a higher level of competency to fulfill the needs and wants of people around the globe. Competency is amalgamation of skills, knowledge, attitude and behavior that trigger to perform the delegated services in a precise and systematic manner. The objective of this study was to determine the existing competency level of extension advisors of Nepalese extension service. Total 6 districts from province 1, 2 and Bagmati were selected for the study based on a questionnaire. The questionnaire was composed of open and close-ended questions including the nine core competencies. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the findings. The findings indicated respondent competency in its all nine core competencies namely program planning, program implementation, communication skills, extension education and information technology, program evaluation, personal and professional development, diversity, subject matter expertise and emotional intelligence as moderately competent in general. The extension advisors perceived most competent in extension education and information technology and poor in pluralism in agriculture. Subject matter expertise, extension education and information technology skills are getting better with increase in educational level. Current level of core competency of program planning, program implementation skills, communication skills, personal and professional development and pluralism were found to have increased with increased years of experience. The exposure visit and inservice training are effective methods for competencies acquisition.