Department of Agricultural Extension, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Peredeniya

Описание: Department of Agricultural Extension

Agriculture is a techno-social effort with people involved as farmers, extensionists, trainers, scientists, managers, and policy makers. The teaching, research, and outreach work of the Department of Agricultural Extension focus on strengthening the ‘social’ aspects of agriculture to make it relevant and meet human needs. Realizing the increasing importance of agricultural extension as an academic discipline, the Department was established in 1995, moving away from the then Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension. This is the only Department dealing solely with Agricultural Extension in the university system of Sri Lanka.

Agricultural extension courses are offered throughout the four years of the undergraduate degree programmes, especially for the B.Sc. Honours in Agricultural Technology and Management degree programme. Department also teaches students in the BSc Honours in Animal Science & Fisheries, and BSc Honours in Food Science & Technology degree programmes offered by the Faculty of Agriculture. A variety of courses are offered based on different aspects of agricultural extension such as Agricultural Extension Education, Agricultural Communication, Agricultural Sociology, Productivity Enhancement Training, Organizational Management, Human Resource Management and Career Development etc. These courses are taught by staff members who have the expertise and background of education with industry experience. Department is closely linked with the Postgraduate Institute of Agriculture (PGIA) through the Board of Study in Agricultural Extension established in 1995.
The academic staff of the Department is involved in conducting courses and also serve as research supervisors and examiners of PGIA students in their MSc, MPhil, and PhD degrees. Students following the advanced module are provided many opportunities through activities such as farmer training by students, video production, field and organizational visits, and outbound training.