Bhubaneswar: Agriculture education emphasizes the experiential learning through translation of theoretical concepts learnt in the class followed by transfer of knowledge to farmers and other stakeholders. As per the 5th Dean’s Committee Recommendations, the Rural Agricultural Work Experience Program (RAWEP) under student ready program, enrolled students of final year B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture and B.Sc. (Hons.) Horticulture, Faculty of Agriculture, Sri Sri University have successfully completed it by participating in Krushi Unnat Sahjogi (KUS) program. On this occasion, Prof. Dr. S. Kumaraswamy, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, Sri Sri University has advised students to translate the practical knowledge to identify the problems faced by the farmers to provide solution through building agri-preneural model/s and services to benefit the farming community. The KUS and RAWEP was ably coordinated by faculty members of various disciplines viz., Dr. Vinoda Shankara Naik (Extension Education), Dr. Subhrajyoti Panda (Extension Education), Dr. Anupam Dakua (Extension Education), Dr. Chinmayee Mohapatra (Plant Pathology), Dr. Snehasish Routray (Entomology), Dr. Suvalaxmi Palei (Horticulture), Dr. Prajjal Dey (Crop Physiology), Dr. Ipsita Samal (Entomology), Dr. Shubhaom Panda (Agribusiness), Dr. Suchismita Jena (Horticulture), Dr. Mandakini Kabi (Genetics and Plant Breeding), and Dr. Purbasha Priyadarshini Padhi (Soil Science).
A prior orientation program was organized to introduce students to field level practical topics in various disciplines and also providing necessary training to equip the students to perform the KUS-RAWEP activities effectively in association with farmers, block level workers of Department of Agriculture, Govt. of Odisha, subject matter specialist of KVKs and agri-entrepreneurial organizations. The Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Govt. of Odisha has provided a unique platform to students under KUS Program with honorarium for a period of 2 months. Under Govt. Odisha sponsored KUS program, 158 students participated in the academic year 2021-22. The students had an opportunity to learn and implement various tasks to collect the primary data on various program implemented to benefit the farming community at block level. During the internship period, students were guided by the officers of state Department of Agriculture. It is gratifying to learn that our 18 students have been identified as ‘top performers’ in KUS program. Students viz., Ms. Sidheswari Das, Ms. Sonika Acharya, Ms. Preetipallabi Das, Ms. Sanjeebani Mahanta, Ms. Sweta Mishra, Ms. Sreeragi S. Kumar, Mr. Lucky Sahu, Ms. Nibedita Mishra, Ms. Smrutirakha Sahoo, Mr. Biswajeet Mishra, Mr. Shubham Ghose, Mr. Bismoy Mohanty, Mr. Pranab Kumar Panigrahi, Ms. Bipasha Biswal, Mr. Kunil Kumar Hatua, Ms. Sushree Swagatika Bastia, Mr. Sidharth Chaudhury and Mr. Sarada Prasad Das have been recognized for their meritorious performance with certificate of appreciation and cash prize.
Faculty members were delighted by the excellent performance of the students and their performance in the KUS program. The Hon’ble Vice-chancellor of Sri Sri University Prof. Dr. Ajay Kumar Singh also appreciated the meritorious achievements of students and their disciplined demeanour during the KUS program period. Likewise, he also advised the students to innovatively develop an entrepreneurship model utilizing the knowledge gained on various aspects of agriculture and secondary agriculture. The Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture, Prof. Dr. S. Kumraswamy expressed his gratitude to the team at Department of Agriculture, Govt. of Odisha for conceiving and implementing innovative-experiential learning process under KUS program. He also emphasized that the students have largely benefitted by acquiring practical skills while executing RAWEP through the problem-solving objective approach of the KUS program.
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