Looking at the timeline of India's agricultural extension system: 1968 and 1974 fall in the early phase when ICAR was still building its research network and had not yet launched a dedicated farmer-training institution of this kind, while 1980 corresponds to a period of later KVK network expansion rather than its origin. As per this exam's answer key, the establishing year attached to the first KVK at Puducherry is 1996, and the other three years are ruled out as they do not match the key's reference point.