Impact of the rural agricultural work experience (RAWE) programme on farmers in Shivamogga district

Introduction

India has witnessed the most spectacular changes in the field of agriculture. From being a "Begging basket to a saturated granary", the era of self-sufficiency was achieved through together termed as Indigo revolution (Kumar et.al, 2020) [4,6] . All these requisites necessitated the remodelling and development of new pedagogic tools in griculture education, which is a foundation of agricultural for future development. In Indian scenario socio-economic status of the farmers has vital role in agriculture. It was found that socio-economic, psychological, situational factors are the major causes of suicides of farmers in India. In Indian scenario 72.00 per cent of farmers like farming and out of them 60.00 per cent of them traditional occupation was agriculture. At the same time 36.00 per cent of farmers feel that agriculture does not give a good income. Land holdings of the farmers have strong association with economic motivation of the farmers (Singh et.al, 2016) [15] . Agricultural education is an important tool in ensuring increased agriculture productivity, sustainability, environmental and ecological security. The committee on Agricultural Education in secondary schools in the year 1988 emphasized the need for change in vocational agriculture education, in order to meet the needs of the communities (Iverson and Bachtel, 1989) [3] . The committee recommended that instruction be provided both in developing agriculture skills and in promoting general knowledge in agriculture. In the past four decades Indian agriculture education system has worked within the gamut of transfer of technology from scientist to extension functionary and to farmer. Experiential learning approach in agriculture was first initiated by Prof. Richard Bawden in the year 1978 at the University of Western Sydney, Hawkesbury in Australia (Kannayan et.al., 1998). In India, Randhawa committee recommended the Rural Agricultural Work Experience Programme (RAWEP) for imparting quality, practical and production oriented education for the agriculture degree programme (ICAR, 1992). Rural Agricultural Work Experience Programme (RAWEP) was introduced in the agricultural universities in our country, which is viewed as the best opportunity, which can orient and equip the required potential among farmers through the students of agricultural science. The Third Deans committee under the chairmanship of Keerti Singh advocated the introduction of RAWEP in all the State Agricultural Universities (SAU's) in India and laid down specific objectives for the programme (Shivaramu, 2018) [12] . In order www.extensionjournal.com to sharpen the knowledge and skills of agricultural students, RAWE is offered in final year of the B.Sc. (Agri) degree programme which includes, training, demonstration, observation, practice and participation in purposeful activities and to orient our agricultural graduates for participation in various rural developmental programme. This programme aim is to provide work experience to the students in rural areas. This experiential system in agricultural education has a strong potential to prepare a better agricultural technocrat with high level of skill in combination with the modern out-look and management capacity. However, RAWE is one of the best that means to produce well trained agricultural graduates with broad based knowledge and techniques to meet the emerging challenges for the welfare of farmers (IGKVR, 2014).

Methodology

The present study was carried out in five villages, namely Kallamane, Issuru, Chikkajogihalli, Hittala and Churchigundi in Shikaripura taluk of Shivamogga district. A total of 65 students of B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture were allotted to these villages during the RAWEP programme in the academic year 2025-26 at the College of Agricultural Sciences, Iruvakki. Thus, 260 farmers were selected, with whom the students were attached to study various aspects of agricultural technologies in farm enterprises. A descriptive research design was followed to carry out the study in Shivamogga district. Further, data were collected with the help of a structured questionnaire through face-to-face interaction with the farmers. The RAWE period (Village placement) was from 29.09.2025 to 21.12.2025. Data were collected before the start of the RAWE programme and after its completion to assess the impact in terms of changes in knowledge and perception of different agricultural technologies. The RAWE programme was conducted under the College of Agricultural Sciences (CAS), Iruvakki, Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences (KSNUAHS), Shivamogga.

Results and discussion

Distribution of farmers according to their profile characteristics

The profile characteristics of farmers presented in [4,6,11] . In terms of education, about one-fourth (25.77%) of the farmers were illiterate, while nearly one-fourth (22.69%) had primary education. Less than one-fifth (18.85%) had middle school education and only about one-tenth (11.15%) had high school education, with very few having higher education. This highlights the importance of practical and demonstrative approaches under RAWE. These findings align with the findings of Singh and Sharma (2017) [13] . Regarding family type, nearly two-thirds (65.38%) of the farmers belonged to nuclear families, while about one-third (34.62%) belonged to joint families. Nuclear families may facilitate quicker decision-making. These findings are in conformity with the findings of Patel et al. (2019) [10] . With respect to family size, nearly half (49.62%) of the respondents had small families, followed by about one-third (29.62%) with large families and about one-fifth (20.77%) with medium sized families. Smaller family size may encourage adoption of improved technologies. These findings align with the findings of Verma et al. (2016) [16] . In terms of marital status, nearly two-thirds (64.62%) of the farmers were married, while about one-third (35.38%) were unmarried. Married farmers tend to have greater responsibility toward improving their livelihood. These findings are in conformity with the findings of Chauhan et al. (2018) [1] . Regarding annual income, nearly one-third (32.31%) of farmers earned between Rs.40, 000-Rs.80, 000, followed by about one-third (28.85%) earning Rs.20, 000-Rs.40, 000. About one-fourth (24.23%) earned above Rs.80, 000, while nearly one-seventh (14.62%) earned less than ₹20,000, indicating moderate income levels. These findings are in conformity with the findings of Meena and Singh (2019) [7] . With respect to farming experience, nearly half (46.92%) of the farmers had 10-20 years of experience, followed by about one-third (28.08%) with less than 10 years and one-fourth (25.00%) with more than 20 years of experience. These findings are in conformity with the findings of Yadav et al. (2017) [17] . Scientific orientation was medium among nearly two-fifths (43.85%) of farmers, followed by about one-third (30.38%) with high and about one-fourth (25.77%) with low orientation. These findings are in conformity with the findings of Patel and Desai (2018) [9] . Risk orientation was low among nearly half (45.77%) of the farmers, followed by about one-third (28.46%) with high and about one-fourth (25.77%) with medium risk orientation. These findings are in conformity with the findings of Mehta et al. (2016) [8] . Social participation was medium among about two-fifths (40.77%) of the farmers, followed by about two-fifths (37.31%) with low and about one-fifth (21.92%) with high participation. These findings are in conformity with the findings of Kumar and Patel (2019) [5,10] . Extension orientation was medium among about two-fifths (37.31%) of the farmers, followed by about one-third (34.23%) with low and about one-third (28.46%) with high orientation. These findings are in conformity with the findings of Singh et al. (2020) [14] . Overall, the findings indicate that farmers possess moderately favourable socio-economic and psychological characteristics and the RAWE programme plays a significant role in enhancing their knowledge and adoption behaviour through practical exposure and direct interaction.

Impact of RAWE programme on knowledge levels of farmers regarding recommended agricultural technologies

The data presented in Table 2 revealed that change in knowledge level of farmers regarding various agricultural www.extensionjournal.com technologies before and after the implementation of the RAWE programme. Before the intervention, a majority of farmers possessed low knowledge across most of the technologies. For instance, more than half of the farmers had low knowledge regarding compost production (60.00%), vermicomposting (58.85%), use of biofertilizers (61.54%) and microbial biocontrol agents (63.46%). In contrast, only about one-sixth to one-fourth of the respondents had high knowledge on these aspects. After the RAWE programme, there was a noticeable shift in knowledge levels from low to moderate and high categories. In most of the statements, nearly half of the farmers moved into the moderate knowledge category. About one-half (50.77%) of the respondents had moderate knowledge regarding compost production, while about one-fourth (21.92%) had high knowledge after the programme. Similarly, in the case of vermicomposting, more than half (51.54%) of the farmers had moderate knowledge and about one-fourth (24.23%) had high knowledge after the intervention, compared to a majority having low knowledge before the programme. A similar trend was observed in knowledge related to biofertilizers, azolla cultivation, mushroom cultivation and seed treatment practices. Knowledge regarding green manuring, organic waste utilization, soil and water conservation also showed considerable improvement, with nearly three-fifths of farmers shifting to moderate knowledge levels after the programme. This indicates that farmers gained better understanding through practical demonstrations and field exposure provided by RAWE students.

In the case of advanced practices such as budding, grafting and microbial biocontrol agents, there was a clear improvement from low to moderate knowledge levels, though high knowledge levels remained comparatively lower. This suggests that while awareness increased, mastery of technical skills may require longer or repeated www.extensionjournal.com interventions. Knowledge related to organic farming principles and kitchen gardening also improved significantly.

For instance, nearly half of the farmers already had moderate knowledge about organic farming before the programme (48.85%), which further strengthened after the intervention with increased proportions in both moderate and high categories.

Overall, the results clearly indicate that the RAWE programme had a positive impact on farmers knowledge levels. There was a consistent decrease in the proportion of farmers under the low knowledge category and a corresponding increase in moderate and high knowledge categories across all the statements. This improvement can be attributed to the participatory approach adopted under RAWE, including demonstrations, group discussions and regular interaction between students and farmers, which helped in better understanding and retention of knowledge. These findings are in conformity with the findings of Singh et al. (2020) [14] , Kumar et al.

(2019) [5] and Meena et al. (2018), who reported significant improvement in farmers knowledge levels after extension interventions and training programmes.

Impact of RAWE intervention on farmers overall knowledge of agricultural practices

The overall knowledge of farmers regarding recommended agricultural technologies showed a marked improvement following the RAWE programme ( [14] , Kumar et al.

(2019) [5] and Meena et al. (2018), who reported significant improvements in farmers overall knowledge following structured extension interventions and experiential learning programmes.

Impact of RAWE programme on perception of farmers regarding recommended agricultural technologies

The findings revealed that the RAWE Programme brought about a positive change in farmers attitudes towards recommended agricultural technologies. After the intervention, a higher proportion of respondents expressed strong agreement with most of the statements compared to the pre-intervention stage. A majority of the respondents strongly agreed that mushroom cultivation is a profitable enterprise for rural households (54.62%), followed by vermicomposting being more beneficial than traditional composting (50.38%), microbial biocontrol agents being safer than chemical pesticides (50.38%) and apiculture providing additional income and enhancing crop pollination (50.38%). Similarly, nearly half of the respondents strongly agreed that compost production improves soil fertility (46.92%), scientific seedbed preparation ensures better germination (46.92%), budding is effective for quality planting material production (46.92%), Azolla cultivation is useful for livestock feed and soil fertility (46.54%), soil and water conservation practices improve productivity and reduce erosion (46.54%). The proportion of respondents strongly agreeing that scientific seedbed preparation ensures better germination increased from 18.85 per cent to 46.92 per cent. Similarly, strong agreement regarding the importance of seed treatment increased from 24.62 per cent to 41.15 per cent. These changes may be attributed to demonstrations showing their role in improving crop establishment and disease management. The percentage of respondents strongly agreeing that soil and water conservation practices improve productivity and reduce erosion increased from 17.31 per cent to 46.54 per cent. This favourable attitude is due to increased awareness of sustainable natural resource management. Similarly, strong agreement towards the adoption of post-harvest technologies increased from 22.31 per cent to 43.08 per cent, indicating better appreciation of their role in reducing losses and increasing farm income. The proportion of respondents strongly agreeing that apiculture provides additional income and enhances crop pollination increased from 18.85 per cent to 50.38 per cent. This is attributed to the promotion of beekeeping as a viable supplementary enterprise.

Strong agreement regarding organic farming ensuring safe food, soil health and sustainability increased from 24.62 per cent to 45.77 per cent. This favourable attitude had developed due to growing awareness of the adverse effects of excessive chemical use and the benefits of organic agriculture. Finally, the percentage of respondents strongly agreeing that kitchen gardening contributes to household nutrition and food security increased substantially from 14.62 per cent to 43.08 per cent. This is due to awareness programmes emphasizing nutritional security and self-sufficiency in vegetable production. The positive attitude developed among farmers is due to the awareness programmes, demonstrations, field visits, training programmes and continuous interactions conducted by RAWE students, which enhanced farmers understanding of the benefits of these technologies and encouraged favourable perceptions towards their adoption.

Conclusion

The findings of the study revealed that the RAWE Programme had a significant positive impact on both the knowledge and perception levels of farmers regarding recommended agricultural technologies. The programme enhanced farmers knowledge on various aspects such as compost production, vermicomposting, green manuring, biofertilizers, mushroom cultivation, Azolla cultivation, seed treatment, plant propagation techniques, soil and water conservation, organic farming and allied agricultural enterprises. A substantial increase in the proportion of farmers with high knowledge levels was observed after the intervention. Similarly, the perception of farmers towards recommended agricultural technologies improved considerably following the programme. A larger proportion of respondents expressed favourable perceptions regarding the usefulness, profitability, sustainability and environmental benefits of the technologies introduced. Farmers increasingly recognized the importance of scientific and eco-friendly agricultural practices in improving productivity, income, soil health and household nutritional security. The positive changes in knowledge and perception may be attributed to the various extension activities carried out under the RAWE Programme, including demonstrations, training programmes, field visits, farmer meetings and regular interactions between students and farmers. Overall, the results indicates that the RAWE Programme served as an effective extension educational approach for strengthening farmers awareness, improving their perceptions and promoting the dissemination of recommended agricultural technologies at the village level.

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