New Delhi, Nov 3 (UNI) The final-year students of Amrita School of Agricultural Sciences, Coimbatore, under the Amrita University, conducted a Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) at Sokkanur Village in Coimbatore recently, as part of the Rural Agricultural Work Experience (RAWE) Programme.
The programme was aimed at creating a platform for interaction between students and farmers, and to understand the real-life challenges being faced by farmers in rural agriculture sector and their livelihood systems.
The PRA aimed to assess the existing agricultural and social conditions of the village through the active participation of the farming community. Various participatory tools were employed during the exercise to collect information and analyze the current situation.
Preference Ranking was carried out to identify the most critical problem among the commonly faced issues by the farmers. Pair wise ranking was utilized to analyze and prioritize the major social problems, while Resource Mapping was conducted to visually represent and locate the natural resources and key infrastructures available in the village.
This was done with the help of chart works, drawings, and models, which were used to demonstrate the identified resources effectively and make the process more interactive. The resource mapping was further analyzed spatially using the Google Earth Engine, which enabled farmers to understand the distribution of resources more precisely. This also provided the farmers with valuable exposure to modern technology and its practical applications in agriculture and rural development.
The active involvement of the farmers throughout the process facilitated a better understanding of the prevailing agricultural constraints and the existing resource distribution in Sokkanur Village. The entire programme was conducted under the guidance of the College Dean, Dr. Sudheesh Manalil, along with other faculty members. The farmers participated enthusiastically and appreciated the students’ sincere efforts, teamwork, and interactive approach.
The activity was organized by Meghavarrshini A., Krishna Mahesh, Samyajhna P., Niranjana C., Krishna Bhadra, Aruna V. S., Devi Chandana, Adith Krishnan P. R., Meenakshy R., and Mohan A under the Guidance of College Dean, Dr. Sudheesh Manalil.
