Hyderabad|India|February'2010: “It’s a memorable occasion for me. The course is a very skill-oriented one. I have already received some job offers,” said Kancharla Kavya, a girl student of the course who also stood first in the class. She hails from Rudrur village, in Nizamabad District in Andhra Pradesh. She was speaking at the Bayer- RVJ School of Agriculture at the second Convocation Ceremony School held in city.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr. D N Rao, General Secretary of the School said “I am delighted to note that 17 students of Bayer – RVJ School of Agriculture have successfully completed the one-year Farm Assistantship course. This course will provide them with many career opportunities in the arena of agriculture. This year, in order to further make the course more functional for students, we have decided to convert the one-year course into a six-month intensive course. This will help students in graduating quickly from the School and find viable career options.” Dr. A Ravi Kumar, Principal, Dr. Arjun Rao, Director, C.V. Rao, Chief Administrator and some of the Board members of Bayer- RVJ School of Agriculture, also spoke on the occasion.

The Bayer- Ramanaidu Vignana Jyothi School of Agriculture was established as a part of Bayer CropScience overarching umbrella ‘Learning for Life’ strategy to foster (science) education globally as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility Programme. This School is an initiative of the Child Care Programme, the first-of-its-kind social intervention model developed and successfully implemented in an industry with a farm-based supply chain that aims at getting children off the fields of contract farmers and into the school.

“The Farm Assistantship course is very relevant to today’s agricultural scenario that is fast changing its dynamics. There’s an urgent need for trained professionals at the grass root level and students from Bayer- RVJ School of Agriculture can fit into this profile very well. This course will provide livelihood skills for underprivileged youth and empower them in finding viable career options,” said Says Jens Hartmann, Country Head India & Head, Bayer CropScience South Asia in a statement.

The School has become operational in the first quarter of 2008 and in its first year of operation 27 students graduated from this course in 2009. The Farm Assistantship course is offered free of charge to students in addition to placement assistance on completion of the course. Out of the 17 students graduating this year, 12 students have been placed with Bayer BioScience, a subsidiary of Bayer CropScience located in Hyderabad and the rest with reputed companies.

Up to now, Tthe school ruans a one year full time residential vocational training program on agriculture. The course content iswas allotted over three trimesters and coversed topics such as an introduction into agriculture including basics in seed production techniques and the principles of integrated crop protection. Plant diseases and their appearance on the fields arweree tackled. A knowledge base in business administration including agricultural marketing iswas part of the curriculum like communication and awareness rising for teamwork. In addition, special guest lecturers arewere invited on selected topics. These contents will also be transferred to the six-months intensive course.

The Faculty of this school includes distinguished academicians, members of the agricultural research community and scientists and guest lecturers from Managers from Bayer CropScience Limited.

Reachout's News Bureau
February' 2010