NMV University has adopted a distinctive approach to the Rural Agricultural Work Experience (RAWE) programme by enabling final-year B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture students to undertake their field attachment in their own native villages across Tamil Nadu. This approach places students within familiar farming communities while allowing them to gain direct, sustained exposure to local agricultural realities, farm families and rural institutions. The programme covered students from diverse districts of Tamil Nadu, reflecting its broad field-level reach.

During RAWE, students actively engaged in agricultural operations with farmers and linked themselves with local agricultural support systems, including the Department of Agriculture, Assistant Directors of Agriculture, Agricultural Officers, ATMA activities and farmer-training programmes. Their work included field observations, crop and farm operations, farmer interaction, participation in extension activities and maintenance of records and observation notebooks. This strengthened their ability to connect agricultural knowledge with real farm situations.

The programme was strengthened through direct institutional monitoring. The Hon’ble Vice Chancellor, Dr. K. R. Sundaravaradarajan, along with faculty members from the Department of Agricultural Extension Education, personally visited students at their field locations, reviewed their records and interacted with students and parents regarding their practical work and academic progress. The verification visits also created opportunities to observe local enterprises such as poultry units and honey processing, providing additional exposure to farm-based entrepreneurship and rural livelihoods.

RAWE thus became more than a compulsory field programme; it served as a practical learning bridge between the university, farming communities and rural development institutions. By allowing students to learn from their own villages while receiving faculty guidance and field verification, NMV University has attempted to develop professionally grounded agricultural graduates with practical competence, rural sensitivity and confidence to work closely with farmers.