Rural Agricultural Work Experience Program (RAWE)
The Rural Agricultural Work Experience Program (RAWE) was introduced in the UG curriculum as per the recommendation of the Randhawa Committee during the year 1995-96. Currently the 19th batch in the College is doing the program. Rural Agricultural Work Experience (RAWE) enable the students to gain rural experience, give them confidence and enhance on-farm problem solving abilities in real life situations, especially in contact with farmers, and growers.
The Department of Agricultural Extension organizes the RAWE along with the active participation of all the other major departments of the College. The RAWE program consists of 16 modules, namely, Orientation, Field training in Krishi Bhavans, Research stations, Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Non-Governmental Organizations. RAWE helps the students primarily to understand the rural situations, status of agricultural technologies adopted by farmers, prioritize the farmer’s problems and to develop skills & attitude of working with farm families for overall development in rural area. It is also aimed at providing hands-on training in agro clinic and watershed based planning.
A highlight of this program is the billeting of students on agri-based enterprises to gain expertise and confidence in organizing and nurturing agri-based self-employment ventures in rural contexts. The program culminates with a fortnight-long stay in a selected village with the objective of diagnosing field problems and developing socio-economic, viable projects to address the issues encountered in the field in a participatory mode.
Objectives of RAWE Programme
- To equip the agricultural graduates with clear vision about the rural community
- To provide students an opportunity to become familiar with reference to agricultural development
- To develop professional competency and self-confidence among the agricultural graduates to handle the present and emerging demands of agricultural sector
- To acquaint students with the various developmental agencies , their approaches and strategies and major programmes of agricultural development
- To develop skills in students for solving problems related to agriculture and to prepare development projects/ programmes.
As a part of the RAWE programme, the final year undergraduate students have lived in villages along with farmers with the sole objective of studying socio-economic, political and cultural structure of the village. The students get familiarized with the actual village situation, organize various extension activities based on the local requests, requirements and essentials and prepare development plans for the local panchayaths.
Evaluation of the RAWE program
Each module is evaluated separately by the concerned module leaders and a comprehensive evaluation is conducted at the final stage by a committee comprising of all the HoDs. The students are required to record their observations in field and agro-industries on daily basis and will prepare their project report based on these observations and submit a comprehensive end report of the program. Minimum attendance for this program is 85%.
Modules
| Programme | Duration (weeks) |
|---|---|
| Orientation | 1 |
| Krishi Bhavan Training | 1 |
| WaterShed Management Analysis | 1 |
| Farm Planning | 1 |
| Attachment to Progressive Farmers | 1 |
| Media Attachments | 2 |
| Agri-Clinics | 2 |
| SHG Training | 2 |
| NGO Training | 1 |
| EDP & Project Management | 1 |
| Industrial Attachment | 2 |
| Research Station Training | 1 |
| KVK Training | 1 |
| Attachment Training In Banks | 1 |
| Village Stay Proramme | 1 |
| Project Report Preparation & Examination | 1 |