The buzzword for Kerala Agricultural University's new participatory learning module for the first-year BSc (Hons) Agriculture course is "catch 'em early." The academic council of the university has approved the module, which will be implemented in collaboration with the Agricultural Knowledge Centres (AKC) at the block and panchayat levels.
State Agriculture Minister P Prasad proposed the concept, which was among the first of its kind in the country. The AKCs were established as part of the Subikhsha Keralam Scheme in 2020-21 to strengthen extension-research-farmer links in agricultural development.
It aimed to address farm vulnerabilities related to crop production, plant health management, market risks, management of post-harvest losses and so on.
Officials at Kerala Agricultural University said the new programme would help students gain a comprehensive understanding of the issues and potential institutional interventions to improve farmers' livelihoods.
It will provide students with real-time field experience in farm planning, agro-ecology, stakeholder linkages, production, post-harvest management, value addition, and marketing under the supervision of university scientists and extension professionals. It will also improve their understanding of the agricultural economy of the state.
The programme will begin as a required course in the second semester of the BSc (Hons) Agriculture 2022 batch and will run through the fourth semester.
Students will receive at least 120 hours of training, which will include on-farm camps and visits to project areas on a regular basis.
Students from the Faculty of Agriculture's Colleges of Cooperation, Banking, and Management, as well as the College of Climate Change and Environmental Science, will participate in the programme.
