CHENGDU, Nov. 5 (Xinhua) -- A work detail of young guys spares no effort as they set to weed a patch of land on campus in southwest China on Sunday afternoon.

    They are not gardeners, but sophomores of Jincheng College at southwest China's Sichuan University.

    Since spring, farm work is part of their curriculum. Farm work counts for two credit units and is a pre-requisite for graduation.

    Some students hailed the special course as a useful experience, while others complained that they had not been paid.

    Jincheng College, a privately-funded college of prestigious Sichuan University, carved up the 120 mu (19.8 acres) of campus wasteland into six lots for the six departments of the college.

    Each department is responsible for its own "farm". The college provided each of the six farms with 3000 yuan (383 U.S. dollars) start-up capital and equipment such as hoes, barrels, pedicabs and lift pumps.

    Students need to work sixty-four 45-minute periods to earn a unit credit. They receive a further credit before graduation when the performance of the farms has been estimated.

    Radish, caraway, string bean and scallions grown by the students were on display at the new semester's opening ceremony.

    "College students are often neither innovative nor pragmatic. We hope the farm work will help them cultivate those qualities," said Zhou Guangyan, president of the college.

    The farm works like a company, with its own marketing, financing and production departments. The board chairman of each farm is the department chief. Students can compete for the other positions, like the CEO.

    "We have learnt how to manage a farm by ourselves, which you cannot learn from books." said Huang Xiaoxia, general manager of Jinfeng Farm Corp. and a literature sophomore.

    However, some students question the motives of the college.

    "The farm is profitable, but we have no salaries. Are we students or unpaid laborers?" said a student named Wang.

    Managing the farm allows students to experience the hardship of cultivation and put what they've learnt into practice, said Hu Guangwei, vice president of Sichuan Sociology Institute.

    The students' motivation will increase if the farms donate some of their profits to the poor students, added Hu.

    Southeastern China's Xiamen University stirred up a national debate in October by proposing that all its freshmen learn to play golf.

    A raging controversy has prompted China's venerable Peking University to drop its plan to build a golf practice green.