RURAL AGRICULTURAL WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAMME Dr. N B Chauhan , Dr. B S Patel and Dr.

R C Patel Introduction: Youths are powerful forces in empowering any country. Youths can become parts of major area of interests for the development of any nations. Agriculture is a prime area of attention and interest to develop India. Besides powerful agriculture research and effective adoption, creation of powerful human resources to manage such agricultural developmental task is a most important need of our nation. Agricultural education is an important tool in ensuring increased agricultural productivity, sustainability, environmental and ecological security, profitability, job security and equity. Pragmatic learning is the fundamental move towards problem solving in which learning is for improving interactions with the outside work. The learning process imparts a direction to the students to think and act which creates self-confidence. Self-confidence is the key in experiential learning, which primarily trains the students at different phases. It offers a direction to the students to develop their competence, capability and ability, capacity building, acquiring skills and expertise and also personality development. However, it requires interest of an individual with total commitment and involvement, participation, reception, active interest, dedication, handwork, curiosity, vision and mission. Under the changing dynamics of economical and industrial growth agriculture has to undergo changes with new approaches, therefore, experiential system in agriculture has strong potential for imparting better training of the agricultural technocrats with high level of skill in combination with the modern out-look and management capacity. Agricultural education is a dynamics one, which is undergoing change in a very rapid manner to meet the need of the society. The students of agriculture are learning well on basic and applied issues of science and technology, however, they do not possess adequate self-confidence in starting own commercial farming. Under this situation, RURAL AGRICULTURAL WORK EXPERIENCE PROGRAMME (RAWEP) is an important competence and confidence building Programme activity introduced in many SAUs in India. In India, Randhawa Committee (1992) recommended the Rural Agriculture Work Experience (RAWE) Programme for imparting quality, practical and productive oriented education for the agriculture degree programme. The World Bank (1995) stated that there was little emphasis in the curricula on preparing the agricultural graduates for better career in agriculture or agribusiness outside government jobs. Therefore, the agenda for the 21st century in agricultural education must be drawn on the basis of the challenges it has to meet in the near future. Getting do, how practical hands-on training during higher education towards self-employment, is very essential. It provides significant hands - on experience in acquiring skills, which are mainly aimed at creating a product or providing a service to those who demand. This Programme is for providing work experience to the students in rural setting. In fact experiential learning is exactly what the name implies learning from work experience. The experiential approach is a learner-centered approach and allows an individual student to manage and share responsibility for his learning with his teachers and hosts. Effective work experience training strategies incorporating rural agricultural experiential learning approaches provide opportunities for a student of the last year to engage in field work activity and to review and analyze critically this work experience activity and to draw some useful conclusions, decisions, from this analysis and apply the result in actual practical life and field situation. The period of this programme in all the SAUs of Gujarat is one semester (the seventh semester) to carry out the activities in sound designed integrated model. The students are allotted to the research stations of major crops of particular zone. They are also exposed in villages with farm families, agro-based industries, co-operatives NGOs and high-tech cell during different phases of RAWE Programme.

During this programme, three weeks educational tour with in the state and in neighboring states is also organized. In final phase of the Programme, the students have to submit the detail report of work and experience. Respective subject teacher organize the written and oral examination and evaluation is made in grade point system. The students have to make their own arrangements for lodging and boarding during the whole Programme. Objectives of RAWE programme:

1. To develop the understanding of rural community life and the different situations prevailing
in villages with special reference to agriculture.

2. To familiarize with the socio-economic conditions of farmers and their problems with
reference to agricultural development.

3. To provide an opportunity to the students for practical training in crop production through
work experience.

4. To develop communication skills among students using extension teaching methods in

transfer of technology.

5. To develop the understanding regarding agricultural technologies being followed by farmers

and to prepare alternate farm plans to suit to the local situation in consultation with the farmers.

6. To develop confidence and competence in students for solving problems related to

agriculture.

7. To acquaint the students with on going thrust on rural development and programmers related
to transfer of technology.

8. To make students understand the role of men and women in agricultural and allied fields. 9. To explore and to develop understanding regarding high-tech agricultural technology and
factors affecting the adoption of modern methods of agriculture by the farmers.

10. To explore the awareness, understanding & skills among the students with special reference
to scientific model of Integrated Development of Agriculture which includes crop husbandry, horticulture, agro forestry, animal husbandry, fisheries, poultry, dairying, agrobased industries, processing, marketing etc.

11. To develop the techniques / know how among the students for preparing and development of
package through collection of data based from grass root level for rural areas.

12. Students are also to be practically exposed to the research methodologies including
experimental techniques, management, and collection and processing of experimental data. Probable results of RAWE Programme

1. Art of listening 2. Art of negotiation 3. Confidence building 4. Conflict management 5. Develop skill of joint effort 6. Developing art of creative thinking 7. Effective decision-making 8. How to get feed back 9. Life like experiences 10. Managing relationship 11. Money management

12. Observe problem 13. Personality development 14. Practicing method 15. Self-management 16. Time management 17. Understand the real life problems 18. Understanding of prevailing situation 19. Understanding situation of recommended technology 20. Working of local institution 21. Working with local organizations/leaders
Various exposures for practical learning: Orientation programme of students/ teachers: This phase is meant to introduce the RAWE to the faculty and the student and to sensitize them towards the changed attitude required in the whole programme: Expected out come:
y y y

Changed attitude towards learning Development of team work Understanding of the RAWE programme

Stay at Agricultural Research Stations, Krushi Vigyan Kendra: It is to help them to understand what is going on in the training and research centres, the need of todays farmers and the role of trainers and researchers. In short, this period helps them to know the middle segment between the academic and rural world better. Expected out come:
y y y y y y y y y

Building research and extension works competence Building confidence as an individual Disclosure of recent advancement in training and research Handling practical work. Knowledge of collection, compilation and analysis of experimental data Knowledge of research experimental techniques Knowledge of working methodology Revelation of administration and management Solving management problems

Stay with High-Tech cell: It helps the students be conversant to work with the modern gadgets like computer and the other machines we need for tissue culture and biotechnology. Expected out come:
y y y y

Having awareness about the latest technology Understanding of green house, tissue culture and bio-technology Updating and collecting information through internet Working and surfing with computers

Stay with Farm families in villages: It provides real touch of rural atmosphere so that the students plan their future career accordingly. Expected out come:
y

Ability to plan out strategy to work in villages

y y y y

Real field experience Understanding real-life. Understanding the gap between the rural and urban people Understanding the mundane work and problems

Stay with Non-governmental Organizations: It helps them know the issue based organizations and make them committed to the rural mass and to their profession. Expected outcome:
y y y y y y y

Experience of commitment to the cause Involving people to participate Knowledge of administration and management Knowledge of starting an NGO Law cost management Personnel management Understanding local institutions and their need

Educational tour: It gives various types of exposure of the facts of life with pleasure. Expected outcome:

y y
y

Development of outlook Vision of the outside world

Confident and competent individual

Stay at Agro-based Industries and Co-operatives: This phase helps students to understand the meaning and nature of existing co-operatives and how to be entrepreneurs through the agro-based business. Expected outcome
y y y y y y y y y

Conflict management Creating solution-finding atmosphere Impact on agricultural development Management of different components Managing Economic crisis Peoples participation Problem-solving attitude Teamwork development Working with people organization

Thus, RAWE is a learner-centered approach of exposing undergraduate students of Agriculture college by using principles of learning by doing and seeing is believing to provide direction to think and act on their own. It offers a course to develop students to learn how to be competent, confident, capable, skillful and able to do work in real life situations. This experiential system in agricultural education has a strong potential to prepare a better agricultural technocrats with high level of skill in combination with the modern out-look and management capacity. RAWE is one

of the best means to produce well trained agricultural graduates with broad based knowledge and techniques to meet the emerging challenges.