Three-month field internship to link agricultural education with grassroots extension services; students to monitor crops, conduct farmer surveys and assess harvest yields

 

THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

BHUBANESWAR, OCTOBER 3, 2026

The Odisha Government has launched an expanded field internship programme that will place 964 agricultural and horticultural graduates across all 314 blocks in the State, seeking to strengthen the connect between academic learning and grassroots agricultural extension services.

Deputy Chief Minister and Agriculture, Farmers’ Empowerment and Energy Minister Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo inaugurated the ‘Krushi Unnata Sahayogi’ (KUS) programme at a special function held at the Krushi Shiksha Sadan Conference Hall of the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) here on Saturday.

Originally introduced in 2023, the expanded programme will be implemented from October to December, coinciding with the Kharif season. Final-year undergraduate students of Agriculture and Horticulture from various agricultural universities in the State have been selected as ‘Sahayogis’, or associates, with around two to three students assigned to each block.

The initiative is designed to provide students with direct exposure to farm-level challenges while supplementing the State’s agricultural extension machinery. The interns will work alongside Gram Panchayat-level extension personnel from Monday to Friday, between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m.

A key component of the programme will be field-based monitoring of crop pests and diseases. The students will use digital platforms, including e-Pest and the National Pest Surveillance System (NPSS), to collect and report information from farming areas.

Each student will also undertake a qualitative survey covering 100 farmers and conduct five semi-physical Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) to assess crop yields.

The programme also requires the interns to visit agricultural input dealers, one Farmer Producer Organisation (FPO), two Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and two Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) or Large-sized Adivasi Multipurpose Societies (LAMPS).

During these visits, the students will create awareness about government schemes and mobile applications and document farmers’ problems, success stories and feedback. The exercise is intended to provide the Agriculture Department with field-level inputs while giving students an understanding of the institutional ecosystem surrounding farming communities.

The performance and field activities of the student associates will be digitally tracked through the KUS App and monitored through the ADAPT Dashboard. Block Agriculture Officers and Assistant Agriculture Officers will conduct weekly reviews of the interns’ work.

On successful completion of the three-month internship, each student will receive a stipend of ₹21,000 and a completion certificate issued by the respective Chief District Agriculture Officer (CDAO).

Singh Deo said the initiative would help build a stronger agricultural extension network while giving young agricultural graduates valuable practical exposure to farming conditions and the challenges faced by cultivators.

The programme will also provide a platform for students to share their field experiences. Five top-performing participants will subsequently present their insights and observations from the field.

The inaugural programme was attended by Commissioner-cum-Secretary Sachin Ramchandra Jadhav, OUAT Vice-Chancellor Prof. Prabhat Kumar Roul, Director of Agriculture Subham Saxena, Director of Horticulture Kalunge Gorakh Waman, Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) Vice-Chancellor Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda, Private Secretary to the Deputy Chief Minister Dr. Ganeswar Jena and other senior officials and representatives of agricultural institutions.