Academic Work

OBJECTIVES

• To make them understand the rural community life and the prevailing situation

• To familiarize with the rural socio-economic conditions

• To provide an opportunity to have practical training in crop production

• To improve communication skills among the students using extension teaching methods

in the transfer of technology

• To sensitize them regarding agricultural technologies, used by farmers and to prepare

alternate farm plans according to the local situation in consultation with the farmers

• To develop confidence and competence in students for handling professional problems

• To acquaint the students with ongoing thrust of rural development programmes

• To make the students understand the changed role of men and women in agricultural and

allied fields.

• To explore the high-tech agricultural technology and the factors affecting the adoption of

modern methods of agriculture.

• To initiate awareness, understanding and skills among the students with special reference

to the scientific model of “Integrated Development of Agriculture” i.e., crop husbandry, horticulture, agroforestry, animal husbandry, fisheries, poultry, dairying, agro-based industries, processing, marketing etc.

• To know the techniques / know how to prepare and develop the package through a collection of data from the grass-root

APPROACH OF THE RAWE PROGRAMME

• Experiential learning approaches towards problem-solving and improving interaction with the world outside. The learning process essentially provides a direction to the students to think and act and eventually creates self-confidence. It helps the students develop their competence, capability, capacity building, skills, and expertise, in short holistic development. However, it requires an individual’s total commitment, involvement, participation, reception, active interest, dedication, skill, curiosity, vision and mission.

• Under the changing dynamics of economical and industrial growth agriculture has undergone a sea change with new approaches. Therefore, this experiential system in agricultural academia has become imperative for better training to the agricultural technocrats with a high level of skill in combination with the modern out-look and management capacity.

• The experiential approach is a learner-centred approach and allows an individual student to be responsible for his own learning minimizing the role of his teachers and hosts. Effective work experience training strategies incorporating rural agricultural experiential learning approach provide opportunities to a student to experience the fieldwork activity and to review and analyze critically his own work experience so that they prove to be useful in their real-life situation.

Overall Outcomes of RAWE Programme

The overall outcomes of RAWE Programme from the perspectives of the students are summarized below:

 Rural awareness

 Field experience

 Team work

 Experiential and experimental learning

 Knowledge on field based research and extension methodologies

 Exposure to administration and management issues in context of rural and agricultural

development

 Capacity building

 Acquainted with recent advancement in research and extension

 Updating and collecting information through different methods

 Understanding rural life

 Learning of bottom-up approach in planning

 Learning the techniques of stakeholders’ participation in developmental programmes

 Understanding local institutions and their need

 Conflict management and negotiation skill

 Management of different components of farming system

 Working with people organization

 Problem-solving attitude

 Awareness about rural economy

 Impact of rural and agricultural development on rural livelihood

 Knowledge on gender mainstreaming in agriculture