06. Pan-Commonwealth Forum 6 (PCF6), 2010
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Browsing 06. Pan-Commonwealth Forum 6 (PCF6), 2010 by Subject "Agriculture"
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PublicationEmpowerment of Agricultural Skills through Distance Education at Tamil Nadu Agricultural University( 2010-11)The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU), Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, a century old renowned institution committed for the development of agricultural education and research in the state of Tamil Nadu has ventured an innovative approach of commissioning open and distance learning programmes since 2005 for the benefit of various segments of the farming community viz., farm women, rural youths, school dropouts, students and self help groups through its certificate courses which are skill oriented. // Certificate programmes of 21 numbers in the regional language of Tamil are offered. Some of the important courses are: • Mushroom Cultivation • Waste recycling and vermicomposting • Preservation of Fruits and Vegetables • Preparation of Bakery and Confectionary Products • Propagation of Nursery Techniques Bee keeping // These courses are designed to upgrade the technical skill of farmers and to disseminate latest technologies related to the field of Agriculture. These courses are uniquely designed to create self-confidence, self employment and to enhance the income generated by the individual. // Moreover a set of certificate programmes (5), are also designed and offered, catering to the needs of those who live in urban areas viz., • Landscaping and Ornamental Gardening • Commercial Horticulture • Soil Fertility Management • Mushroom Cultivation • Coconut cultivation // Undergoing these programme not only bring them income but also make their life in more productive environment and beneficial to the society. The learners are exposed to practical situation and environment to gain knowledge and skill to be on par with regular students, which is a unique approach in the ODL mode at TNAU. -
PublicationFostering Community Preparedness to Cope with Drought: new initiatives and results from a study involving ODL and ICT from South Central India( 2010-11)Drought has emerged as a key concern in the context of climate variability induced by Climate Change processes and over a billion people are vulnerable, according to UN estimates. Drought preparedness is recognized as the preferred way to cope over relief, and information is the key. Improved access to contemporary ICT in the form of mobile phones and the Internet can help address the challenge of information deficiency in this matter. We have tried to develop an integrated approach for improving the capacity of rural communities by bringing together agricultural information with methods of ODL and effective exchange or delivery using videoconferencing. This has also enabled skill building among vulnerable rural communities in the use of color-coded maps derived from satellite imagery and GIS platforms. ICRISAT in partnership with a community based all- women micro-credit organization, the Adarsha Mahila Samaikhya (AMS), in South Central India has developed this blend of techniques to help the AMS and rural communities to anticipate how vulnerable their villages would be to drought in a season. This is an ongoing partnership, and we report here on joint studies carried out during March 2008-September 2009.
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PublicationGlobal Agricultural Knowledge Initiative: Strengthening the Global Competence of Students, Faculty and Extension Agents( 2010-11)Education and Training traditionally involve learning from teachers and other pedagogical standards. The role of the teacher is to impart knowledge to those who do not possess them. Teachers talk in front of the class, and the pupils have to listen and write down what the “knowing” teacher says. This top-down method is not only used in the formal education system, also training staff uses this method to train the people. Even though this way of teaching and learning is part of our culture, the changing scenarios and expectation of today’s learners demand that teachers adapt new ways to update their skills and knowledge for making information and knowledge available to farmers. // Advent of Internet and advances in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), and specifically in Multimedia, Networking, and Software Engineering have promoted the enormous amount of learning resources and Learning Management Systems (LMSs). During the last years, thousands of electronic texts, images, movies, or Java applet based learning resources have been developed for learning purposes in Internet environments. To take advantage of this situation, new services were developed for creating synchronous (Chat, Flash meetings, Breeze meeting, Teleconferencing and Video Conferencing to name a few) and asynchronous (Internet education portals, web based learning management systems, Forums, and wiki’s to name a few) learning environments. With the help of these contemporary Information and Communication Technology based services, the search, classification, organization, and peer-to-peer exchange of learning resources by learners, instructors, and course developers are becoming commonplace. However most of these technologies and virtual knowledge networks are part of corporate knowledge management. Academia has yet to recognize and fully explore the significance of systematic network development tools for agricultural education purposes. A dynamic computer-based model of knowledge management can now be applied to agricultural research done at any university anywhere on the globe and this research can be exchanged in a matter of seconds among faculty scientists, private industry, and students.
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PublicationImparting skill development training to the Lakadong turmeric farmers of the Jaintia Hills of Meghalaya( 2010-11)The present paper is the report on the Lakadong variety of turmeric which has the highest curcumin content in the world (7.4%) is native to the Lakadong area of the Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya ( Lat 25° 10' 60N ; Long 92° 16' 60E; Alt 610 m).
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PublicationKnowing and Growing Network of Organic Women Farmers in the Caribbean: Digital media for learning, networking and farm management( 2010-11)With no explanation for climate change or the abrupt shifts in weather, farmers may think this is ‘God’s work’ - and beyond the control of mere mortals. By extension, farmers might not consider themselves actors of consequence whose actions could have direct impacts for climate change and for our collective futures on this planet. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth! // We have been working with farmers in the Caribbean region since 2004, developing an e-network support system of organic women farmers – first teaching them about the holistic benefits of organic farming (food and health, management of climate change, biodiversity, local production) but also teaching them technical aspects to using the Internet more broadly and social networking tools more specifically over time. In 2010, six workshops later, the network is at least 180 people strong – primarily but not exclusively, women farmers. What began as a network of farmers seeking to become organic has now extended to farmers concerned about a healthy and resilient food economy in the context of climate change and environmental stress. // A review of current research and documentation shows that there are few comprehensive materials that look at women’s use of and access to ICTs in the context of farming and climate change. Our research indicates that despite the lack of dependable data on the impact of climate change on agriculture, the issue is gaining more attention as climate issues attract more urgency. At the same time, it is clear that the treatment of climate change and agriculture needs to be localized in order for it to be of any value to farmers and policy makers alike. // We will present our work, the challenges, and the particular gender dimensions of working with media and technology tools in a rural and multi-island setting – in a participatory workshop session.
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PublicationLifelong Learning for Livelihood Promotion: A Rural Experiment in the Madurai District of Tamil Nadu( 2010-11)Agriculture is the primary sector for the Indian economy. It is economically and socially vital for India as it contributes 23 per cent to GDP, feeds a billion people and employs 66 per cent of the workforce. However the status of the vast majority of the farming communities is filled with misery. Illiteracy, socio-economic backwardness, vagaries of monsoon, increasing input costs, lack of timely credit and unfavorable market conditions has deprived them of their livelihood securities. Added to it, arable land is shrinking as urban expansion, Special Economic Zones (SEZ), corporatization of agriculture has gobbled up thousands of acres of farmland and has eroded the livelihood resources of the poor farmers. This unfavorable trend and livelihood threats needs to be halted and efforts must be made to expand farmer’s access to livelihood resources. By enabling farmers to have increased access to resources (physical, natural, human, social and financial) the present situation can be remedied. As Chakraborty, et al., (2009) argued, people should be made responsible for their own development in this process. Sustainable livelihood approach envisaged that people should not merely participate, but be in charge of their own development. Life Long Learning attempts to provide this expanded access to livelihood resources by adopting this livelihood approach.
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PublicationMedia support for farming and alternate livelihoods: A Comparative Study of ETV vs other TV channels in the State of Andhra Pradesh( 2010-11)The present study therefore is an effort to examine: i. how far the existing electronic media (in the private and the government sectors) are transmitting the agricultural programs enabling the farmers to make informed decisions in their professional practices at low costs with reasonable returns. ii. how far the coverage is addressing all the major areas of burning issues of farmers and farming strategies and techniques, and iii. to examine whether the existing programs are sufficient or need to be further broadened to offer more inputs for the benefit of the farmers.
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PublicationODL Interventions for Skill Development in Agriculture( 2010-11)Indian agriculture is at crossroads and is one of the concern areas for the policy makers. The human resource base for the agriculture sector is weak and is one of the neglected components of the sector. The programmes and initiatives being initiated, under the recently launched National Skill Development Mission, can provide an interface for development of human resource for the agriculture sector. The ODL can play a proactive role in human resource development for agriculture sector and successful implementation of the Skill Development Mission through interventions like: development of competency based curricula and multi-media training modules, designing and implementing the testing and certification mechanism and development of qualification framework. It can also facilitate in creating a value added ICT enabled system. Implementation of skill development mission in area of agriculture through ODL shall ensure wider participation in equity mode. The paper analyses the present agriculture scenario, status of vocational education and skill development in the area of agriculture, potential of Open and Distance learning (ODL) in skill development skill development and issues involved in development and planning of Qualification Framework. It is envisaged that efforts in building the human resource, through a structured and certifiable system shall bring in significant change in the growth of the sector.
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PublicationSkills for Development: Present Status of Vocational Programmes in Livestock and Fisheries at Bangladesh Open University (BOU)( 2010-11)Bangladesh Open University (BOU) has launched ‘Certificate in Livestock and Poultry (CLP)’ and ‘Certificate in Psiculture and Fish Processing (CPFP)’ programmes through its School of Agriculture and Rural Development (SARD) from January 1999. These programmes have been designed to provide essential know how, skills and professional knowledge especially for young people interested to generate self-employment through livestock, poultry, fish and shrimp farming. Both the programmes are 6 months long and comprised of 15-16 credit hours. Theoretical and practical lessons comprise approximately 60 and 40%, respectively. There are two intakes per year and learners have to complete the programme within 2 years. Any secondary school certificate holder from any discipline can enrol this programme. The school follows strict regulations during development of curriculum-based modular printed course books, radio and TV programmes, enrolment, tutoring and assessment of the learners. In several studies, it has been found that BOU education is flexible, cost-effective and comparable standard that of the conventional universities. However, skepticism is remained whether current curricula, delivery and evaluation methods are enough to impart knowledge and practical skills to learners attending courses in livestock, poultry and fisheries those have substantial practical works. Not much research has been carried out to find out real problems and means for their solution so far. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to find out the present status of CLP and CPFP programmes, problems and suggested measures to improve their status.