Department of Agricultural Extension

Postal Address: 

Department of Agricultural Extension

College of Agriculture, KAU P.O. Vellanikkara, Thrissur

Vision

To meet the needs of competent human capital in agriculture development and research by offering relevant, quality development education programmes, training and research in field of social and behavioural sciences, management and technology-society interfaces for creating competent personnel who can effectively serve the farming community.

Mandate

·                To impart teaching at UG and PG levels on various aspects of Agriculture Extension including various practical aspects of social dynamics and innovation manegement.

·                To undertake applied and conceptual research in non-formal education, technology management, evaluation of innovations and technology-society interface studies

·                Technology facilitation through innovative approaches

The Department of Agricultural Extension has great potential in leading focused research on grass roots level development, local governance and decentralised planning for agricultural development, market access for small holder farmers and farmer centered extension. We plan to look into such key areas risk reduction in farm management behaviour. The department leads the RAWE-AIA-STUDENT READY program with innovation and farmer centred activities. We also undertake faculty research projects through impact studies, exploratory studies on development programs and studies on farmer collectives.

History

·       Established as a Statutory Department of KAU  in 1972 along with the inception of the College of Horticulture at Mannuthy

·       Started M.Sc. (Ag) programme in 1976.

·       Shifted the department to the present college building at Vellanikkara during November 1977

·       Recognized as an approved centre for Ph.D. programmes in 1991

 

Facilities

·         Audio-visual Lab

·         Management Lab

·         Department Library

Awards and Achievements

Year	Student/ Faculty	Award/ Recognition
2018	Anseera, T. P.	Best paper awared for paper entitled “Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for management of natural resources”, INTFES-18 TNAU by Extension Education Society
2018	Roshni Thampi	M.Sc. (Agricultural Extension) First Rank holder among the 2015 Admission students of  KAU
2019	Dr. Sulaja O. R	Best paper presentation award for paper on Decentralised Planning in Agriculture’ presented at the “International Conference on Extension for Strengthening Agricultural Research and Development (eSARD-2019)”, jointly organized by ICAR-ATARI, Bengaluru, Extension Education Society, Coimbatore and ICAR-JSS KVK, Mysuru during 14-16 December 2019.

Extension Club

An extension club has been formed under department which actively take part in social life of the college and takes up innovative activities for students and staff. Undertake online coaching and Mock tests for students preparing for JRF in Social Sciences 

Courses Offered

	Courses
B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture	Extn 1101 Rural Sociology and Educational Psychology (2+0)
	Extn 1203 Fundamentals of Extension Education and Rural Development (2+1)
	Extn 2204 Communication Skills and Personality Development (1+1)
	Extn 3105 Entrepreneurship Development and Agricultural Extension Management (1+1)
	Rural Agricultural Work Experience (RAWE)-AIA** (0+20)
	Experiential Learning: Elss 4201 Agricultural Information Support Services (0+10)
	Non-Credit Course: Extn 1102 Human Values and Ethics (1+0)
M.Sc.	Ext 501 Development Perspectives of Extension Education (1+1)
	Ext 502 Development Communication and Information Management (2+1)
	Ext 503 Diffusion and Adoption of Innovations (2+1)
	Ext 504 Research Methods in Behavioural Sciences (2+1)
	Ext 505 e-Extension (2+1)
	Ext 506 Entrepreneurship Development and Management in Extension (2+1)
	Ext 507 Human Resource Development (2+1)
	Ext 599 Master’s Research (2+1)
	Compulsory Credit Course: PGS 501 Research Methodology (1+1)
	Non-Credit Course: PGS 505 (e-Course) Agricultural Research, Research Ethics and Rural Development Programmes (1+0)
Ph.D	Ext 601 Advances in Agricultural Extension (2+1)
	Ext 602 Advanced Design and Techniques in Social Science Research (2+1)
	Ext 603 Advances in Training Technology (2+1)
	Ext 604 Organizational Development (2+1)
	Ext 605 Advanced Instructional Technology(2+1)
	Ext 699 Doctoral Research

**RAWE-(AIA)-Student READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana): Initiative of Indian Council of Agricultural Research to reorient graduates of Agriculture and allied subjects for ensuring and assuring employability and develop entrepreneurs for emerging knowledge intensive agriculture is implemented in the final year of BSc (Hons) in Agriculture as a six month module. This programme includes five components i.e. Experiential Learning, Rural Awareness Works Experience, In-Plant Training / Industrial attachment, Hands-on training (HOT) / Skill development training and Students Projects. All these components are interactive and are conceptualized for building skills in project development and execution, decision-making, individual and team coordination, quality control, marketing and resolving conflicts, etc. with end to end capability building. The programme is coordinated under the Department every year. (RAWE Video attached)

Extension Services

The Department of Agricultural Extension involved in facilitating the visits to College of Agriculture by various groups of people such as farmers, officials of line departments, students and staff from various agricultural universities etc. The Department spearheads all general extension activities of the college. There are periodical capacity building and awareness programmes conducted by the Department to farmers and other stakeholders in the farming sector which essentially form part of the projects undertaken.

The Department of Agricultural Extension has been providing leadership of RAWE programme of undergraduate students by coordinating the activities of various modules of the programme. RAWE programme is a semester long programme through which the students are exposed to the current and emerging opportunities and challenges in agriculture and rural development. Main modules designed to provide the student a hands-on experience are Farm Planning, Watershed Development Programme, Krishi Bhavan training, Agro-clinics, Research Station and KVK trainings, NGO training, Village Stay etc. During village stay, the students stay along the rural households for a fortnight, which provides opportunity to acquire field experiences. Multi-faceted extension activities including seminars for farmers on various aspects of agriculture, quiz programmes and agricultural competitions, trainings, demonstrations, and agricultural exhibition are designed and implemented on an intensive manner with the full involvement of the entire faculty members as part of village stay which is the highlight of the RAWE programme. This is a unique programme as it provides scope for the involvement of all the departments in the process of implementation at village level. RAWE programme brings positive changes in the mindset, personality traits, outlook and managerial skills of students.

 

Projects Ongoing

Sl. No.	Title	PI/Co-PI/ Nodal Officer	Year	Funding Agency
1	Vegetable Seed production among tribal farmers for improving livelihood security	PI: Dr. Sulaja O R.; Assist. Professor	2020-21	State plan project
2	National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) Equity Action Plan (EAP)	EAP Nodal Officer & Co-PI: Dr. Binoo P Bonny, Professor	2019-22	ICAR
3.	RKVY-RAFTAAR-ABI	Co-PI: Dr. Binoo P Bonny, Professor	2019-22	GOI

 

Completed projects

Sl. No.	Title	PI/Co-PI	Year	Funding Agency
1	ICAR extra mural project on Enhancing competitiveness of producer farmers in mango value chains in Kerala	PI: Dr. Jayasree Krishnankutty	2017	ICAR
2	Impact assessment of Akshayasree awards, Kerala	PI: Dr. Jayasree Krishnankutty	2016	SD foundation
3	Problem management and rejuvenation of coconut based homesteads with special reference to pest control through science extension interfaces	PI: Dr. Jayasree Krishnankutty	2013	Kerala Agricultural University
4	Draught Mitigating Agro Techniques for summer cultivation of OP Melon in Western Ghats Region	Co-PI: Dr. Jayasree Krishnankutty	2018	Western Ghats Development Authority, GoK
5	Rural Women empowerment through agro processing and value addition	Co-PI: Dr. Jayasree Krishnankutty	2016	NABARD
6	Indigenous Technical Knowledge in weather and climate in relation with agriculture and forecasting in Kerala.	Co-PI: Dr. Jayasree Krishnankutty	2015	State Planning Board, GoK
7	Comprehensive development of Kaipad rice tract under organic management through farmers participatory approach   to enhance organic rice   production of North Kerala	Co-PI: Dr. Mercykutty M. J.	2012	Paddy Mission, KAU
8	‘Hariyali’ Project (Watershed Development Project) ”	Co-PI: Dr. Mercykutty, M. J.	2011	Dept. of Rural Development, GoI