An ardent group of students from Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute near Tiruchirappalli in Tamil Nadu are on a 90-day mission to share their knowledge about crops and fields with farmers. After all, education always serves a better purpose when it is used for the good of society, isn't it?

From February 1 in Veppanthattai block of Perambalur district, final year students of the college have been organising special camps on Rural Agriculture Work Experience. This would go on for 90 days. As part of the camp, students visit fields and inspect crops like maize, cotton, sugarcane and small onion in Annamangalam, V Kalathur, Veeranganur and Valikandapuram villages. In onion crops, leaf twister disease was detected and the students, apart from providing a remedy for it, explained to the farmers the impact it can have on the crop.

READ ALSO : Agricultural universities encouraged to revise syllabi: Finance Minister during the Budget speech

Speaking to TNIE, S Rohit, said, "Many farmers are not aware of the leaf twister disease. The disease shrinks onion leaves and reduces the yield. But the farmers are not worried about the yield. We noticed the disease attack a field in Valikandapuram. Farmers do not realise that sowing hybrid seeds and resowing the seeds from the crops could affect the crop to a great extent. Only a handful of farmers are using native seeds. However, we raised awareness about the impact of the disease and provided natural remedies."

Students also found out that a few farmers purchase fertilisers at a high cost while there were others who used organic methods to cultivate crops. They also had the opportunity to visit banana farms and understand sericulture and integrated farming.