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Sharada Vidyanikethana Public School, located in a village bordering Kerala in Karnataka’s Mangaluru taluk, introduced agricultural science as a compulsory subject for 5th to 10th standard students in the current academic year. Students were asked to cultivate vegetables on 3.5 acres on the campus.
Enthused by the response, the school, which follows the CBSE curriculum, is now planning to expand the farming activity on another five acres. This time the focus will be on perennial crops and tubers.
Practical training
MB Puranik, president of the Sharada Group of Institutions, Mangaluru, told BusinessLine that the school will give practical training in the cultivation of perennial crops and tubers, along with vegetables, from the next academic year. This will help the students understand the cultivation of other crops in a systematic way.
Stating that a five-acre land parcel on the campus is being readied, he said crops such as tapioca, sweet potato, and elephant-foot yam, and perennial crops such as banana and papaya would be grown.
On the response to the agricultural science in the curriculum, he said the parents of students are happy. Students have also given serious consideration for the subject. Terming evaluation of students as an ongoing process in this subject, he said they are given projects based on their practical field experience.
Farm assignments
Giving an example, he said students had planted amaranthus. However, the crop came under fungal attack. Tomato plants on the field also suffered insect attacks. The students were given project work to study the reasons behind these problems. Such projects help them learn about plant diseases in a better way.
Ruling out the use of synthetic fertilizers, Puranik said the residential school is making the best use of organic wastes for preparing compost and vermi-compost for use as manure. Students have taken up projects on the impact of these organic manure on the crops.
Marketing
On crop marketing, he said that around 100 families of staff members live within the residential campus. They buy the farm produce grown on the campus.
During the term examinations, questions based on the curriculum are asked in the theory part to evaluate the students’ understanding of the subject. Puranik said they are taught seed conservation to crop cultivation and protection, to marketing.
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