March 2021 AGRICULTURE TODAY 1...2 AGRICULTURE TODAY March 2021 BAU- HArBinger of AgricUltUrAl Development in JHArkHAnD Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi was formally inaugurated

AGRICULTURE TODAYMarch 2021 1

AGRICULTURE TODAY March 20212

BAU- HArBinger of AgricUltUrAl Development in JHArkHAnDBirsa Agricultural University, Ranchi was formally inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi on 26th June, 1981. Ranchi-based Agriculture College (1955), College of Veterinary Sciences & Animal Husbandry (1961) and Asia’s first Forestry College (1979) were brought under the control of BAU. Centre for Biotechnology, set up in 1999 for offering postgraduate programme in the subject, was upgraded as College of Biotechnology in 2005.

Development of eDUcAtionAl infrAstrUctUreDuring 2017-18, seven new colleges, viz. Rabindra Nath Tagore Agriculture College, Deoghar; Tilka Manjhi Agriculture College, Godda; Agriculture College, Garhwa; Phulo Jhano Dairy Technology College, Hansdiha, Dumka; College of Fisheries Science, Gumla, College of Horticulture, Khuntpani, West Singhbhum and College of Agricultural Engineering, Ranchi came into existence where undergraduate programmes are running successfully. UGC approved 3-year B. Voc. programme has been launched recently in Herbal Resource Technology and Human Nutrition & Dietetics.

reseArcH AcHievementsWith continuous sincere efforts of the scientists, the university has been able to develop and release over four dozen varieties of crops and two breeds of livestock. About a dozen of varieties of cereal, pulse and vegetable crops are ready for release. For the benefit of the farmers, the university has made over 100 technical recommendations. The University has

bagged one ambitious project under NAHEP CAAST for IFS. The university is pioneer in adoption of ICT in agriculture and ambitious projects on Artificial intelligence and Robotics are going on.

extension AnD oUtreAcH progrAmmesThe university is serving the farming community of Jharkhand state with well organized Directorate of Extension Education. Agricultural Technology Information Centre provides information, diagnostic services and technological inputs to the farmers. ICT is being used vigorously to narrow down the gap between knowledge generating and knowledge consuming systems. The university has well developed multilingual portal (www.bau-eagriculture.com), IVRS (18003457021), Micro level weather forecast services (Birsa Weather app) and BAU Extension Youtube Channel. The

university has extended its reach with 16 KVKs which undertakes on-farm research, conducts training and demonstration and acts as knowledge resource centre for the district. Recently GKMS centre has been established in 11 KVKs to provide weather based advisory to the farmers.

fUtUre tHrUstFor improving employability of the students, strengthening the Counselling and Placement Cell of the University is high on the list of our priority. On research front, the university plans to strengthen research on climate smart agriculture, resource conservation technology, precision agriculture and IFS. For improving extension and outreach efforts, the university plans to strengthen KVKs in terms of manpower, infrastructure and technological backstopping. Infusion of high end ICT like artificial intelligence, robotics and IoTs ranks high on our agenda.

With best compliments from

Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi, Kanke, Ranchi-834006 (Jharkhand), Indiawww.bauranchi.org

AdvertoriAl

Dr. o.n. singhVice-chancellor, Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi


From the CEO’s Desk...Reverse Migration Due to Lockdown…

A Blessing in Disguise!

I read somewhere that in a digital world, geography is history. With Niti Aayogtransforming the dynamics for a New Digital India, sustainable work opportunities in rural India will lead to a new revolution of reverse migration. But before this could happen, an unprecedented pandemic trigered distress movement of labour back to their roots. There are crucial activities in a cropping cycle like sowing and harvesting which

are labour-intensive. There is lesser involvement of manpower in between due to technological advancement and mechanization. To enhance family income, this excess labour in rural areas migrates to urban areas and seeks employment as per their varied skills. India’s corona virus lockdown has compelled mass migration of this labour back home, due to loss of employment and social distancing. Authorities were left in a tizzy as a deluge of daily wagers in the informal sector jostled to leave big cities for their native places. Now, a big challenge for the government is to provide gainful employment for the migrants who may not want to go back to the cities for livelihood and live in dismal conditions. Rural areas that witness the arrival of skilled in-migration movements have been known to experience an increased diversity of activities and products that contribute to new dynamics in local businesses and its marketing. These migrants contribute to the reinforcement of synergies between urban-rural spaces, like an increase of urban tourists to rural communities, or through new services like direct delivery of fresh agricultural products to urban dwellers. Availability of this reverse migrated human resource may be considered an opportunity to re-structure the rural agrarian setup by strengthening the agricultural value chain there.Employment can be generated in their own domicile in several ways.Value Addition Projects for Agricultural Products - The major concern of agricultural produce is perishability. After meeting the requirements for fresh fruits and vegetables, food processing through cottage industry, cooperatives, MSMEs and food processing industry should gear up to meet national and international market demands, which will automatically

Grain storage at family levels, new grain storage silos and cold storages,housing projects for skilled and semiskilled building industry workers and upgrading the rural infrastructure can be answers for tackling this anomalous situation. Agro-tourism is another innovative agricultural activity that can be promptly developed, leveraging upon this bizarre scenario. More than a profession or a business, agriculture is India’s culture. Hence, adding additional income generating initiatives to the existing rural set up will increase the contribution of agriculture in the national GDP. Serious efforts need to

agro-tourism is high. It has a great capacity to create employment opportunities for farmers.The resilience and high adaptability of

role. Urbanization will decrease, creating

the same time, there will be sustainable and lucrative employment in rural areas and agricultural produce will be optimally utilized. and development in India after the lockdown pause?Lets explore!!!

Happy Reading…

PresidentDr. MJ KhanCEO & Group Editor Mamta JainGroup Executive EditorRajni Shaleen ChopraEditor Agri NewsSanjay Kumar

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From the CEO’s Desk...

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Pages in the magazine: 68

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I have to admit that planning this edition has been the most thrilling month of a highly adventurous professional journey. Someone who spent more time standing on benches as punishment… Whose Dad used to be terrified of her parent

teacher meetings because she was so naughty…. Whose teachers had a tough time controlling her…. was now hosting distinguished Vice Chancellors of all agricultural universities across India! Interacting with the heads of some of the most esteemed

Central Universities, eminent luminaries and stalwarts of the education fraternity felt UNREAL… like a DREAM! I was as jittery as I would be when I appeared for my thesis viva back in college!

The country’s SAUs constitute around nine percent of all the universities. Sadly, enrolments are less than one per cent of the total. A change is in order to meet the enhanced demand of the agriculture profession. Agri-graduates must be able to delineate current and future challenges, and offer solutions through a blend of indigenous technology and modern innovation. Agriculture graduates need skills for transforming agriculture into agri-business and farmers into entrepreneurs.

The National Agriculture Higher Education Project (NAHEP) headed by Dr RC Agrawal also aims to build capacities for the faculty and students, and upgrade our SAUs to a global level. The emphasis is on developing soft components of the agricultural education system. Here are some thought-provoking interventions from the Vice Chancellors Symposium organised by the Agriculture Today Group as part of the first edition of Agriculture Education Awards 2021.

• Agricultureisnotperceivedasalucrativejoboption• Schoolstudentshavenoinclinationforagricultureasalucrativeprofession• Urbansetupsdonotacknowledgetheimportanceofagricultureeducation• Itisperceivedthatagricultureeducationistolearnfarmingoperations• Likeotherdisciplines,agriculturehasnotbeenglamourizedforstudents• Studentsjoiningagriculturevoluntarilytendtocomefromruralbackgrounds

Agriculture is not considered a lucrative job option. This is both a problem and a perception. The problem arises due to lack of opportunity. The perception arises due to lack of understanding. Who are the stakeholders responsible of creating opportunity? …For creating understanding? We keep talking about the rural-urban divide. Is it possible to bridge this gap when chit chat around the current Kisan Andolan suggests thaturbanIndiasadlycontinuestohaveaFarmerscan’teatpizzamentality!

With the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision to prioritizeAgriculture for an Aatmnirbhar Bharat, is the New Education Policy 2020 prepared to unleash the potential of this sector by remodelling Indian Agriculture Education?

Let’s find out…

Happy Reading

Pageinthemagazine:68

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Mountain MovesSustainable Agriculture by Himalayan Farmers 16

new HorizonsAgriculture Education: The Changing Dynamics 20

tHe Big visionRole of MANAGE: Innovations inAgribusiness Education 24

addressing farMers’ ConCernsNAFED-FIFA Initiatives for Doubling Farmer Incomes through Marketing Support to Fpo 26

opportunitiesRoad Map for Agricultural Education 30

sHouldering responsiBilityAgri-business Management forAtmanirbhar Bharat 32

tHe learningBuilding Innovators 40

fount of KnowledgeAgriculture Education must address local, regional needs 42

startup supportAgri University Initiative : Smart Farming and Entrepreneurship Development 44

speCial featureYouth Empowerment and Employment for Sustainable Development 48

driving growtHAgri Education: Needs More Youth 50

rural developMentRole of Animal Health Education 54

industry readyAgri-Biz Education: The Changing Dynamics 56

india eduCation awards 2021 60

Dr ram BaDan Singh

Dr rC agrawal

Prof Sangita SrivaStava

Shri rameSh Pokhriyal

Prof arvinD kumar

Dr S rajenDra PraSaD

CovER SToRY

EYE oN FUTURE

AGRI CoNCERNS

SwARNIM BHARAT, vISHwAGURU

BUIlDING GRASSRooTS

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One day she discovered that she was fierce, strong and full of fire… And then, even she

could not hold herself back because her passion burned brighter than her fears!

HAPPY WOMEN’S DAY

SheShe is the backboneof Indian Agriculture


Curriculum of agricultural universities must be aligned to industry needs

The current agricultural scenario in India has three defining trends. One, farmers face production to post production challenges. In this context, the government had brought the three farm laws to unleash the potential of the farm sector.

The second defining agricultural trend of our times is that the large majority of jobs are in the private sector. Accordingly, the course curriculum of the agricultural universities must be aligned to the needs of the industry. The third defining trend is the robust growth of startups.

More than a decade ago, ICFA initiated the trend to get charm and glamour into agriculture. Now, the change has happened. Everyone wants to understand opportunities in agriculture.

Agriculture is seeing its best days. The post Covid economic recovery has been majorly powered by the agriculture sector. The target spelled out by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to double agriculture exports is a very major push for this sector. This shall be achieved by focusing on the four Ms – Material (quality of what we produce), Money (investment), Manpower and Markets. We need to more effectively align production with marketing. With the support provided by the government, good days are ahead for agriculture.

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Kisan Jaago: then and nowFrom the exeCutIveedItor’s deskAmong the messages on WhatsApp that carry info on top,

Forwarded Many Times, a photograph is being circulated these days. The photograph is of a news cutting of The Tribune, the leading daily of north India published from Chandigarh. The photograph reveals that the news was carried over five columns

with an accompanying photograph. Date of publication: April 3, 2008. The headline of the news report: Allow corporates to procure wheat:

Farmers. The caption for the photograph with the report: Farmers from Punjab and Haryana stage a protest in Chandigarh on Wednesday. This is what the news report says:

Farmers from Punjab and Haryana today staged a demonstration in the city in protest against the decision of the Centre to ban corporate from procuring wheat from their states.

Led by Sharad Joshi, MP, and Bhupinder Mann, a BKU leader from Haryana, the farmers rued that though the price of wheat had shot up to Rs 1600 per quintal in the international market, the government was forcing them to sell their produce at the minimum support price of Rs 1000 per quintal.

Hundreds of farmers gathered at Sector 34 and marched towards the Parade Ground, Sector 17.

Addressing the farmers, Joshi said the government was more concerned about maintaining the food security but least concerned about the problems of farmers.

“Why should the farmers suffer losses by selling their produce at lower rates to the government agencies? The market forces, and not politics, should be allowed to rule,” he said.

Mann said the government was expecting the total wheat production to reach 250 lakh metric tonnes from Punjab and Haryana. He said by selling at a loss of Rs 600 per quintal, the farmers from these states would suffer a loss of Rs 1,500 crore. He said another protest would be held at Kurukshetra on April 21.

In the photograph accompanying the news report, these words are written over a garment worn by the farmers: Kisan Jaago. Wake Up Farmers.

A decade ago, the call of Kisan Jaago was given to urge farmers to demand that corporates must be allowed to buy farm produce directly. Today, the call of Kisan Jaago is being given to urge farmers to oppose the Farm Laws and demand their total repeal.

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Transforming indian agriculTure educaTionUniversal Access to Quality Education a Must for Comprehensive Development

The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 underpins that education is fundamental to unfold human potential, eq-uitable and just society and

in promoting national development. It fur-theremphasizesthatprovidinguniversalaccess to quality education is the key to India’s continued ascent and leadership at the global stage in terms of economic, social justice, equity, scientific advance-ment, national integration, and cultural preservation. Recalling that agriculture is mother of all cultures, NEP 2020 should facilitate creation of a comprehensive Na-tional Agricultural Education Policy which will help transform agriculture to build New India.

The agricultural education system in India is currently based on the 74 Agricul-tural Universities (AUs). These are struc-tured on the Land-Grant pattern of the USA - integrating teaching, research, and extension. These, together with ICAR’s 106 institutes and hundreds of centrescomprise the National Agricultural Re-search and Education System (NARES) – the largest in the world.

The NARES, have been harbingers of the Green, Yellow, White, and Blue Revolutions – the Rainbow Revolution. They have generated the needed scientific manpower, teach-ers, technologies and their transfer to transform India from Ship-to-Mouth situation

about the author

Dr Ram Badan Singh is Former Chancellor, Central Agricultural University and Past President, NAAS

COVERSTORY


of relevant international trends and developments, and indiffer-ence of youth towards agriculture. These problems are further exacerbated due to sub-optimal investment and declining fi-nancial resources in agricultural universities/colleges, opening of new institutions without matching resources and norms, un-mindful splitting of agricultural universities, inadequate resource planning, and poor coordination between Centre and States.

Keeping in view the NEP, and arising from NAAS’s XIth

Bhubaneswar Conference and Declaration 2013, recommen-dationsoftheFifthDeansCommittee2016,andcontinuedef-forts of the ICAR, the following measures are warranted for

alleviating the persisting asymmetries towards transforming Indian agricultural education. The foremost need is to em-brace Agricultural Education for Development (AE4D) as a n integral component of the national agricultural

policy. This is essential to create a world-class agricultural university system attuned to face

local, national, and international challenges and op-portunities.Additionalmeasuresinclude:institutionalizing

transparent governance, autonomy, meritocracy, judicious allocation of resources, monitoring and impact assessment,

strengthening basic and emerging sciences, establishing and nurturing centers of excellence to attract youth for leadership

in agriculture, adopting ‘Light but Tight’ regulation by a single regulator, insti-tutionalizing skill development, entre-

preneurship, experiential learning, and vocational training, and launching/strengthen-

ing South-South, South-North, North-North and trilateral collaborations.

Align National Agricultural Education Policy with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020

The National Agricultural Education Policy (NAEP) must be aligned with the National Educa-

tion Policy 2020, which is based on five pillars, namely, Access, Equity, Quality, Afford-

ability, and Accountability to achieve the 2030 Agenda. India

will have highest popu-

COVERSTORY

to the Right-to-Food status. Having attained the all-time high production of foodgrains (297 million tons), fruits and vegeta-bles (over 320 million tons), milk (200 million tons), and fish (14 million tons), India is the second largest producer of food and second largest agrarian economy in the world, and has emerged as a major exporter of foodgrains and other food prod-ucts.

Yet, we have miles to go. Globally, one-fourth of the hun-gry and under-nourished, and nearly 40% of stunted/wasted children have their homes in India, let alone the huge income and livelihood inequities between farmers and non-farmers. This enigmatic coexistence of food surplus and high incidences of hunger, under-nutrition, and deprivation must be critically analyzed.Science-informedpolicies,includingthoserelatedto quality education and human resources development, and effective implementation are pathways needed to break the paradox and build a zerohunger,equitable,andprosperousAat-mnirbhar Bharat.

Asymmetries in Agricultural Education System, Solutions The enigmatic co-existence of plenty, pover-ty, hunger, under-nutrition, and deprivation is essentially a problem of economic access to adequate and nutritive food, distribution, social and economic inclusiveness, knowl-edge deficit along the value-chain, and human behavior. This asymmetry could partly be attributed to the lack of skilled and trained human resources and decline in quality and responsiveness of agricultural education system as-sociated with other soft problems in the country. These includeinadequateacademicrigourandcontextualizationof emerging challenges and opportunities, erosion of Basic Sciences from agriculture courses, poor quality and insuf-ficient academic staff (faculty positions remain-ing unfilled), widening disconnect between education, research, and extension resulting in knowledge deficit, limited internalization


lation of young people in the world over the next decade. This structure will enable the country to provide quality education which shall determine our future. Our educational system must also contextual-izenewandemergingissuessuchastheunprecedented Covid pandemic, climate change, increasing biotic/abiotic stresses, socio-economic crises, bio-safety/food-safety concerns, fast diminishing natural resources, including biodiversity, and risk assessment and management. Academic legitimacy of producing More from Less for More (MLM) will become doubly im-portant.

Given the above, SDG4 “ensure inclu-sive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030 is most timely. The entire education system, from school to higher education, must be configured to support faster learning. Thus, SDG4 will be direct-ly impacting SDG1 (alleviation of poverty) and SDG2 (elimination of hunger) – the foremost goals of agricultural develop-ment. For achieving these goals, we must enhance creative ability and strengthen social, ethical, and emotional capacities of all stakeholders.

The NEP, being progressive, futuristic, and student-centric, should be duly inter-nalizedinNationalAgriculturalEducationPolicy. It underpins flexibility, multi-discipli-narity, and internationality in consonance with people’s needs, aspirations, voices from the ground (Janvani); science-in-formed amalgamation of indigenous and endogenous traditions, knowledge, and cultural heritage (Bhartiyata Ka Dharatal), ensuring holistic development. It also provides for multiple entries and exits as wellashorizontalandverticalmobility,fa-cilitated by Credit Bank. This encourages aptitude-based choice and self-paced progress according to access, equity, and affordability.

From Land Grant to World Grant Agricultural University SystemIn the spirit of Reform, Perform and Trans-form,andrecognizingthatlocalandglob-al are no longer independent, India’s Agri-

cultural University System should change from Land-Grant to World Grant System, as happened in many Land Grant Uni-versities in the USA. The new curricula, courses and contents should keep evolv-ing, dynamically encompassing the new global initiatives, such as Global Green Economy, Knowledge Economy, Global Zero Hunger Challenge etc. Reiterating the role of Agriculture and Social Sci-ences as pivotal agents of change, it is suggested that Agriculture, Arts, and Humanities (A), be amalgamated with Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), thus transforming STEM into STEAM. India should move towards the ranking of its AUs for raising the level of knowledge domains, meritoc-racy and governance as per the indica-tors suggested by the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), making our students globally relevant and truly globalcitizens.Synergizing excellence and rele-

vance, new approaches towards building qualified human resources, for instance, custom-designed Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) and establishing intern-ship, innovation and incubation Centres arebeingpopularizedinNARES.Ithasalso prepared a roadmap for mentor-ing, emphasizing the need formatchingthe experience and wisdom of mentors with the learning needs of mentees. This builds bridges across the hierarchy lev-els, empowering change management, enhancing work ownership and sharing of responsibility, and expanding learning ecosystem and good practices.

This is in line with the programs of the

Department of Science and Technology (DST), especially Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) and the Global Initiatives of Academic Network (GIAN) of the Ministry of Hu-man Resources Development (MoHRD), now Ministry of Education (MoE). Thus, rejuvenated agricultural education would transform the agrarian economy and at-tract foreign students, rendering the Gov-ernment’s Study in India initiative a suc-cess.

As enunciated in the NEP 2020, NARES should assess the manpower needs of the fast transforming, knowl-edge-intense agriculture to make neces-sary adjustment in curricula and skill de-velopment, emphasizing on experientiallearning and exposure to national and international issues. More technological interventions are likely in the disciplines of ICT, digitalization, biotechnology, na-notechnology, agro-processing, precision agriculture, and systems simulation. Plu-ralistic approach and public-private part-nership focusing on business/marketing/income orientation is needed for making the local extension sensitive to the chal-lenges at micro level, strengthening the feedback mechanism, and setting the right priorities.

Promoting Make-in-India, entrepre-neurship and Agri-Startups, encouraging market-led extension strategies, and in-tensive use of electronic media should be duly covered in the educational programs, thus mutually synergizing the ScientificSocial Responsibility (SSR) and Corpo-rate Social Responsibility (CSR).As emphasized in the NEP, digitali-

zation, information and communicationtechnology (ICT) systems, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be comprehensively included in the new agricultural education system. Further, online teaching, training, learning technology sharing and market access will be actively promoted. The necessary quality technology infrastruc-tures must be ensured for uninterrupted running of the system to institutionalizethe Open Distance Learning mode (ODL) of agricultural education.

COVERSTORY


Reshape Agricultural Education from Primary School to MERU LevelAgriculture (in a comprehensive sense) should be an eminent part of education right from primary school to high school, college and university system. The Na-tional Agricultural Education System should produce professionals with signifi-cant skills to find solutions to the veritable challenges faced by Agriculture. These challenges include low productivity, low profitability and income of farmers, in-creasing volatilities of climate change and market uncertainties and poor access. We also have persisting high incidences of undernutrition, hunger, poverty, ineq-uity, environmental degradation, shrinking and diminishing natural resources – soil, water, bio-diversity. An institutionalizedmultidisciplinary approach is needed to solve the problems. The establishment of Multidisciplinary Educational and Re-search Universities (MERU) will meet these requirements.

Agriculture should be seen as an industry and commercial enterprise. In-creasing mechanization, automation,use of resources conserving technolo-gies, data management, using Big Data Analytics and ICT will be the order of the day. Blockchain technologies, biosensors, non-fossil fuel, renewable energy, solar power, waste management etc. will great-ly impact agric-food systems, hence must beinternalizedinAgriculturecurricula.

Quality Assurance in Agricultural EducationTheNEP2020emphasizes thatuniver-sal high quality education is the best way forward for developing and maximizingour country rich talents and resources for the good of the individual, the society, the country, and the world. With this spirit, quality assurance in higher agricultural education pursued by ICAR/DARE/SAUs involves accreditation, framing of mini-mum standards for higher education, aca-demic regulations, personnel policies, re-view of course curricula and delivery sys-tems, support for creating/strengthening infrastructure and facilities, improvement

of faculty competence and admission of students through All India Examination.

The ICAR’s Fifth Deans’ Committee Report2016hasrestructuredthecoursecurricula to underpin relevant practical skills, entrepreneurial aptitude, self-em-ployment, leadership qualities and confi-dence among graduates, and attracting and retaining youth in agriculture. Further, the Committee had recommended that all degrees in the disciplines of Agricultural Sciences should be declared as profes-sional course degrees, and sought to achieve global level of academic excel-lence. It had also suggested norms for establishing new colleges.

Being Vocal for Local, region-specific courses such as Coastal Agriculture, Hill Agriculture, Tribal Agriculture etc have been formulated. New degree programs and courses have been recommended in emerging fields like genomics (biotech-nology), nanotechnology, GIS, precision farming, conservation agriculture, sec-ondary agriculture, hi-tech cultivation, specialty agriculture, renewable energy, artificial intelligence, big data analytics, mechatronics, plastics in agriculture, dryland horticulture, agro-meteorology and climate change, waste disposal and pollution abatement, food plant regula-tions and licensing, food quality, safety standards and certification, food storage engineering, food plant sanitation and environmental control, emerging food processing technologies, sericulture, community science, and food nutrition & dietetics. These will need additional high quality human resources and shift in ped-agogy.

In compliance with the Student READY program launched in 2015, the Deans’ Commit- tee has de-signed one year program in all the UG disci-plines comprising (i) Experiential Learn-ing, including Inter-national Experiential Learning wherever fea-sible; (ii) Rural Agriculture Work Experience; (iii) In-

Plant Training/ Industrial Attachment; (iv) Hands-on Training (HOT)/ Skill Develop-ment Training; (v) Students Projects, and (vi) the Agricultural Science Pursuit for Inspired Research Excellence (ASPIRE) program.

The ongoing World Bank supported National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP), built on the preceding World Bank projects, particularly NATP and NAEP, is poised to strengthen the capacities of faculty and other staff at all levels, foster linkages of the national system with global knowledge economy, facilitate International Experiential Learn-ing, promote learning-centred education, fortify partnership with private industries, andaugmentdigitalizationandonlinedis-tance learning.The NAEP must have provisions to attract youth and empower women in agriculture. India, with largest population of youth (nearly 400 million between 10-24 years age group) in the world, has only five per cent of the rural youth engaged in agricul-turethoughover60percentoftheruralpeople derive their livelihood from faming and allied activities. Hence, a paradigm shift is needed from Youth as a Farmer to Youth as Value Chain Developer and Agri-preneur.

Zonal platforms for Motivating and Attracting Youth in Agriculture (MAYA) may be established in different parts of the country to facilitate this shift. The AUs must lead this movement by igniting the young minds with emerging and new cut-ting-edge technologies. Further, a gender perspective into NAEP is necessary to ef-fectively address the inequity and related socio-economic challenges. It is encour-aging that the number of girl students in AUs has significantly increased and this must continue. The above New Normals and Disruptive InnovationsinternalizedinIndia’sAg-riculture Education System will truly

transform the system. They shall empower the Agriculture and

Allied Sectors to be the pivot of Aatmnirbhar, Swasth, and prosperous New India.

COVERSTORY


Swarnim bharat

educaTion secTor has major role in realising india’s cherished goalsHon’ble Education Minister, India

Shri Ramesh Pokhriyal

Sir, in October last year, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had said that India has undertaken a ‘trinity of reforms’ in the field of education, labour and agriculture. The Prime Minister said that the reforms set the stage for more foreign universities to be able to come to India. Is the government also looking at initiating reforms in agriculture education in the country?As you know that we are now implementing the National Education Policy 2020. It aims at increasing the professionals in agriculture and veterinary sciences through programmes integrated with general education. With the NEP 2020, the design of agricultural education will shift towards developing professionals with the ability to understand and use local knowledge, traditional knowledge, and emerging technologieswhilebeingcognizantofcriticalissuessuch as declining land productivity, climate change, food sufficiency for our growing population, etc.

The policy recommends that both capacity and quality of agriculture and allied disciplines must be improved in order to increase agricultural productivity through better skilled graduates and technicians, innovative research, and market-based extension linked to technologies and practices. As per the policy, schools/school complexes will be encouraged to hire local eminent persons or experts as ‘master instructors’ in various subjects such as vocational crafts, entrepreneurship, agriculture or any other

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subject where local expertise exists, to benefit students and help preserve and promote local knowledge of professions. Specific courses in tribal ethno-medicinal practices, forest management, traditional (organic) crop cultivation, natural farming etc will also be made available. Universities shall aim to offer PhD and Masters programmes not only in core areas such as Machine Learning but also in multidisciplinary fields and professional areas like agriculture.

The government has emphasised upon the need for educating rural youth in modern farming techniques and farm marketing to promote agro-entrepreneurship in the country. What initiatives does the government plan to achieve these objectives?I believe that there is immense scope for agro-entrepreneurship in India. Over the last decade, a huge influx of educated youth, innovative ideas, and indomitable passion for launching advanced technologies and business ideas have elevated the status of Indian agriculture. Our government has been undertaking several initiatives to ameliorate and give a boost to agro-entrepreneurship in the country. Recently, we organised an Agri-Food Techathon which was the first initiative of its kind that was totally dedicated to the agricultural sector.

This Agri-Food Techathon was launched with an aim to identify and select novel concepts and innovative ideas for agri-food start-up incubation and help transform these start-ups into successful business ventures. I am proud to share that the premier institutes of our country like Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, have a dedicated Agricultural & Food Engineering Department. The department has been contributing to human resources development in the agricultural and food engineering sector in India.

With NEP 2020, we shall be starting vocationaleducation inschools from6thgrade which will also include internships. I am sure that augmenting the importance

of vocational education will immensely benefit the development of agri-food start-ups in India. Local eminent persons or experts shall be hired for the purpose of promoting local professions, knowledge and skills for multitude of subjects including agriculture and entrepreneurship.

The government has stressed that education must be the means of fulfilling new India, new expectations, new requirements. In what ways shall this vision of the government shape the agriculture education sector?Our Honourable Prime Minister Narendra Modi has envisioned a Swarnim Bharat of the 21st century which will not only be Aatm Nirbhar but will also become a Vishwaguru. I believe the education sector has a major role to play in realising these goals. It was in pursuit of these goals that our government introduced the National Education Policy 2020 for an overall360-degreeoverhauloftheentireeducation system in India.

As I said, the NEP 2020 also focuses on the agriculture education sector and intends to bring Aatm Nirbharta in the agricultural sector through education. The NEP 2020 shall give a boost to the capacity and quality of agriculture and allied disciplines while producing skilled graduates and technicians, innovative research, and market-based extension linked to technologies and practices. Schools/school complexes shall be encouraged to hire eminent local persons as ‘master instructors’ in various subjects such as agriculture. Institutions that currently fund research at some level

such as the Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) shall continue to independently fund research according to their priorities and needs. Our government is committed to transform the agriculture sector and I am sure the NEP 2020 will pave the way for these transformations.

The government had identified Institutes of Eminence, offering them financial support and unshackling them from regulations and restrictions. The government had stated that these institutes would enjoy complete academic and administrative autonomy. The 10 government institutes would receive special funding. The institutes would have the freedom to develop their own roadmaps and pursue their ideas of excellence. Is this initiative likely to be extended to the agricultural education sector? Please elucidate.The Institutions of Eminence Scheme seeks to empower select Higher Education Institutions in the country to become world class teaching and research institutions, to enhance access to affordable, high quality education within the country. The selected institutions have the freedom to choose their own path to become world class institutions. The UGC has set guidelines and regulations for IoE which contains the eligibility criteria, selection procedure, monitoring, evaluation, and other regulatory aspects for world class institutions.

We organised Agri-Food techathon recently with the aim to identify and select novel concepts and innovative ideas for agri-food start-up incubation and help transform these start-ups into successful business ventures


Shaping agricultural education under ICAR

The rise of digiTal paThways

Over the last decade, India has transformed itself into an information intensive society. Digital agriculture can enable the country to achieve its dual goals of raising income for smallholder farmers and strengthen the competitiveness of Indian agriculture. With the recent

advances in science and education, we are ready with alternative modes of quality education whenever there is a need to complement/enrich traditional and in-person modes of education. Inthisregard,theNEP-2020recognizestheimportanceoflever-

aging the advantages of technology while acknowledging its potential risks and dangers. It also advocates that the existing digital platform andongoingICT-basededucationalinitiativesmustbeoptimizedandexpanded to meet the current and future challenges in providing quality education for all.

Along with umpteen activities in education, research and teach-ing, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) commenced National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) with the as-

sistance of World Bank (WB) in November 2017 with an overall objective to support participating Agricultural

Universities (AUs) and ICAR in provid-ing more relevant and higher quality

education to the students. NAHEP endeavors increased agricultural

productivity and supports qual-ity improvements of higher

education to create a more skilled workforce that con-

tinuously improves the

Dr RC Agrawal is Deputy Director General (Agricultural Education), ICAR. ICAR - National Agriculture Higher Education program (NAHEp) has been promoting and embracing the digital transformation in agriculture education in country

eye on Future

about the author


productivity of key sectors, including ag-riculture.

Digitization of classroomsAmong several digital initiatives under NAHEP, digitization of classrooms andimproved teaching methods using digital aids, e-module courses are noteworthy. The aim of these initiatives is to widen the horizonoftheteachingscopeandprovid-ing global level learnings to the students. This improves the quality of education and helps the students to develop their skill sets to meet the new age industries. One of such initiatives supported under NAHEP is the designing of interactive and user-friendly e-content under IDP by G B Pant University at Pantnagar.

In order to strengthen the services and infrastructure needs of digital agricul-ture in National Agricultural Research and Education System (NARES), the existing Data Centre (ICAR-DC) built during 2012 is being strengthened with cloud comput-ing infrastructure. Under NAHEP, the out-reach of existing ICAR Data Center (DC) is broadened to cover the agriculture uni-versities enabling them to host their web-sites and IT solutions.

Establishment of ICAR-Disaster Re-covery Centre (DRC) (KrishiMegh) at National Academy of Agricultural Re-search Management (NAARM), Hyder-abad equipped with advanced Artificial Intelligence / Deep learning software / tool kits is an important digital infrastruc-ture created with support from NAHEP. NARES-Cloud infrastructure and services with its constituents ICAR-DC at Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Insti-tute (IASRI), New Delhi and ICAR-Krishi Megh (DRC) at NAARM shall provide a robust and dynamic platform to meet the growing IT needs of the NARES system with the deployment of critical applications such as Artificial Intelligence, e-Office, ICAR-ERP, Education Portal, KVK Por-tal, mobile apps, ICAR institute websites, Academic Management System, Alumni Portal, e-Courses of UG and PG level etc. Network integration between the ICAR-DRC, NAARM, Hyderabad and ICAR-DC,

ICAR-IASRI will provide seamless access to the application services running on these centers to the users.

In order to provide the online access of valuable resources such as books, journals, thesis, publications and report, a library management portal has been designed and launched by Prof. Jayas-hankar Telangana State Agricultural Uni-versity, Hyderabad under IG component of NAHEP, wherein more than 2,00,000 itemshavebeendigitizedsofar.

Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, RahuriDigital agriculture is actively being pro-moted by partner AUs of NAHEP. Ma-hatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri has developed and adopted digital solu-tions and technologies to improve irriga-tion efficiency and to timely assess the soil health. Auto PIS is an innovative ir-rigation system. It schedules irrigation through sensors without human inter-vention. Farmers can use it for precision irrigation and saves electricity, water and labour cost. This shall also increase crop productivity and contribute to better soil health. Phule Soil Moisture Sensor helps farmers to understand soil health through moisture sensor and the need of nutrition, irrigation timing etc. Through these inno-vations, partner AU benefitted more than 6,000farmersinMaharashtra.

Towards the contri-bution to digital agricul-ture, several mobile and web-based applications

like Shukar Palan (Pig Farming) App, Ar-tificial Insemination App, Dairy Manager developed by ICAR-Indian Veterinary Re-search Institute; mJhinga by ICAR –Cen-tral Institute of Fisheries Education, Mum-bai are addressing the current needs of market and industry. Overall, partner AUs under project have developed more than 25 mobile applications in emerging areas of agriculture and allied sector.

Under Component 2 of NAHEP, ICAR-IASRI developed Academic Manage-ment Software (AU-AMS) and success-fully implemented in 52 AUs across the country. ICAR-IASRI has also developed AU-PIMS- a workflow-based system de-veloped with an objective to create unified information base for research projects. This system facilitates in information man-agement and improved decision making with long term objective to check duplica-tion in research projects at AU level.

In order to track the progress of vari-ous subprojects under components, the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) team has developed a web application named as Project Monitoring and Tracking Sys-tem (PMTS) to provide automated solu-tion to users. ICAR shall make efforts to avail the existing e-learning platforms such as SWAYAM, DIKSHA, SWAYAM-PRABHA, etc and shall integrate the e-courses in agriculture and allied sci-ences being developed under NAHEP. These existing e-learning platforms may be leveraged for creating virtual labs so

that all students have equal access to quality practical and hands-on

experiment-based learning expe-riences.

eye on Future


This paper is based on findings of a study on the ground situation undertaken by the author a few years back. The analysis of the state of affairs of the farmers, farming based livelihoods, food security and economic wellbeing across

the Himalayan region states was done to understand the transformation process and the driving forces behind it, so as to so as to imagine the future of farming and farmers in the Himalayas.

The study includes Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizorum, Manipur andTripura, the West Bengal hill districts of Darjeeling and Kalimpong and Bodo, Khasi and Garo hills of Assam.

The rise in income and quality of life of the mountain people inhabiting the Himalayan states is getting better. But the states need to become capable technologically and institutionally for harnessing the niche potential opportunities of villages, landscapes and the whole Himalayan region.

The challenge posed by wild animals Wild animals are increasing domination over the farmers on the standing crops on their farm lands. For farmers, crop land scarcity is no longer a key constraint. It is wild animals. Monkeys during the day; wild boars, porcupines, packs of bears during nights make it a 24-hour war for farmers. The abandonment of cattle, a new phenomenon, has added a new dimension to this issue. The situation is desperate, but

SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE BY HIMALAYAN FARMERS

mountain moVeS

Dr Tej Partap is Vice Chancellor, GBP University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar. He is a

scholar of Mountain Agriculture. This article carries excerpts of a FAO-IMI study carried out by Dr Tej

Partap, which was published by Integrated Mountain Initiative (IMI) www.imi.org

about the author


so far the approach of the governments has been casual. Governments suggest technological solutions and social awareness as part of the solutions with no serious efforts. The problem is ecological. The solutions will have to be ecological.

Himalayan Agriculture R&D Strategies Mountain agriculture includes agriculture crops farming, horticulture, livestock, and their support systems i.e. range lands and forests that act as support lands of farming based livelihoods.

Mountain niches are a hidden source to develop several kinds of farming opportunities, through exploring and developing the valuable and unique bio-resources. This has not yet happened. R&D has so far focussed on agro climatic advantages of hills. Region-specific R&D remains a missing dimension of mountain agriculture.

Need has been felt for significant reorientation in mountain agriculture development thinking. This has been brought about by global environmental concerns and environmental problems being encountered by specific mountain agro-ecosystems. Emphasis has shifted to economically as well as environmentally sustainable mountain agriculture.

Even if agriculture by mountain farmers of the Himalayan region is made the focal point of the development debate, it cannot be isolated from the general development strategies and policy programme framework which is influencing agriculture, directly or indirectly. Some mountain states have adopted successful development pathways. These serve as

useful knowledge and experience that other states would want to know about and learn from.

Neglected lateral flow of information In this last aspect of local capabilities in managing change, one finds differences in transformation among the Himalayan states. A success story in one state or in one area in a state does not get repeated easily elsewhere. Organic Sikkim is not being repeated elsewhere in same dimensions. Transforming mountain economy through fruit farming and vegetable production in Himachal Pradesh may not be happening on similar scale elsewhere, linking conservation of local resources with development in a people’s movement with notable success stories of siri cow and orchids in Kalimpong. Within the Himalayan region states, there are so many local success stories and experiences of failures from which others can learn what to avoid doing.

Much scope exists for evolving mechanisms of cooperation among the Himalayan farmers and institutions of these states for lateral cooperation. Building lateral partnership and cooperation, means between and among the Himalayan states, on the pattern of

building centre-state partnership for many programs.

Questions for strategic think tanks• Withrisingexpectationsofeconomicwell being, rising expenditures of the mountain farming families, and inability of traditional farming to meet the economic demands of farming families, what are the strategies for agriculture growth in mountains? • Whatcanbethestrategiestomanagethe change? • What needs to be done to reducethe impact of driving forces that support abandoning farming, migration and shifting of farmers to non farming vocations?• Future of mountain agriculture isseen not in promoting green revolution technologies. This is because ecological backlash may become faster and stronger in the fragile and marginal environments under the global climate change regime. How can wider acceptance of green economy pathways be made possible?• Economic dimensions of futurestrategies will have to suggest innovative ways for up scaling niche based specialized economies. Shifting fromhousehold mountain economy to a group economy may be imperative. Group economy may be an enterprise of a village or villages forming an economic unit for developing area-based mega niches for better comparative advantage. • Thenewbreedofeducatedmountainfarmers wants agriculture to be a promising vocation. These social values are forcefully changing the ways mountain farmers will evolve farming based livelihoods and the region’s economy.

mountain moVeS

some mountain states have adopted successful development pathways. these serve as useful knowledge and experience that

other states would want to know about and learn from


Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) have emerged as the major driv-ers of national development globally. As India aspires for

faster, sustainable and inclusive growth in agriculture, the Indian STI system, with the advantages of a large demo-graphic dividend, will continue to be the main drivers for transformation of Indian agriculture. This will require a vast pool of skilled human resources to effectively address various issues of technology generation and its effective delivery. The focus of agricultural education now needs to be connected more closely to real farm issues, and their redressal for food secu-rity, employment, and alleviation of rural poverty and making India Aatm Nirbhar.

It is generally argued that agricul-tural education could be useful just for rural school kids. This argument is per-petuated by misconceptions and biased opinions. Agriculture often gets dropped from curriculums, leaving a gaping hole in a student’s education where they can learn important, practical lessons that will benefit them in adult life.

When a subject as important as ag-riculture is introduced, it is appropriate to arrange the content in a structured man-ner. It should be placed layer by layer in the increasing order of complexity. Adding a small concept in one class and another small concept in another class, without a significant practical component, does not enthuse teachers or students.

Agriculture is often the perfect fit to teach lessons in math and science in a real and practical environment. Studies

buildinG GraSSrootS

Prof Arvind Kumar is the founder Vice Chancellor of Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University, Jhansi since May 2014. Prior to this assignment he served as Deputy Director General (Agricultural Education), ICAR from 2009-2014 and also steered the Directorate of Rapeseed-Mustard Research (DRMR), Bharatpur from 2002 to 2009 as Director. During his long career spanning more than four decades, he has contributed significantly towards uplifting agricultural education in the country through developing policies including World Bank-funded National Agricultural Higher Education Project. Dr Kusumakar Sharma is former Assistant Director General (HRD), ICAR, New Delhi

Agriculture educAtion At School levelAATM NIRBHAR BHARAT


buildinG GraSSrootS

continue to show that students involved in agricultural education programs perform better in math and science. The practi-cal skills learned, knowledge gained and networking opportunities provided are very applicable to the working world – all the more reason to add agriculture as a general education requirement.

Way Forward: Transforming STEM into STEAMMany countries have included agriculture as a subject in primary school for a num-ber of reasons. However, our nation’s educators have given excessive push to math, science, technology, engineer-ing and mathematics (STEM) with an emphasisonstandardizedtestingofstu-dents at all levels. Agricultural education teaches students about agriculture, food and natural resources, besides develop-ing skills in the effective management of sustainable production and marketing practices that are environmentally and socially responsible.

Further, students may learn ways to efficiently feed a burgeoning population and gain a better understanding of food production and its distribution. Con-sidering the role of Agriculture (A) as a pivotal agent of change, it should be an eminent part of education right from Pri-mary School – High School – College – University system, thus transforming STEM into STEAM to make them an

integral part of Farm-to-Plate Agri-Food System promoting agri-preneurship for rural start-ups.

The new curricula, courses and con-tents at school level should keep evolving to find solutions to the veritable challeng-es faced by agriculture like low produc-tivity, low profitability and income of farmers, increasing volatilities of climate change and market uncertainties and poor access, persisting high incidences of undernutrition, hunger, poverty, inequi-ty, environmental degradation, shrinking and diminishing natural resources – soil, water, biodiversity.

Key Recommendations• All jobs requiring agriculture and itsallied sciences need to be filled by agri-

19

Prof Arvind Kumar likes reading books and

autobiographies of famous personalities. He is also fond

of meditation, practicing yoga and listening to old music

culture qualified youth. This in practice is only possible when students even from general science streams and even unre-lated fields have proper matching of skills and job requirements.• For integrating education with

rural development, agriculture should be a subject in primary schools in both rural and urban areas• Ouragriculturefacesthechal-

lenge of inadequate transfer of technol-ogy and consequently low productiv-ity. There is an urgent need for creating/strengthening local institutional mecha-nisms for providing day-to-day coun-selling and other escort services to the farmers at their doorstep. • Holistic approach to school

education should be adopted, which re-lates agriculture to science. Unless these problems — curricular, technical, and or-ganizational—aretackled,theresultsofschool agriculture and its acceptance by those concerned will remain far behind expectations and possibilities. Under the NEP-2020, there is ample opportunity to include agricultural courses as a pre-ferred option.• WithamotivetotransformAg-

riculture into a Sustainable Enterprise, the issue of human capital development is very important to grapple with the in-creasing sophistication of technologies, farm practices, marketing and process-ing.

the curricula at school level should keep evolving to find solutions to challenges faced by agriculture like low productivity and profitability, increasing volatilities of climate change and market uncertainties, environmental degradation, shrinking and diminishing natural resources etc.


Dr Ashok Dalwai is CEO, National Rainfed Area Authority and Chairman, Empowered Body, Doubling Farmers’ Income

Dr Dalwai enjoys reading and trekking

Agriculture Education

ChangingDynamics

The

new horizonS

“Education is not the filling up of a pail, but lighting of a fire”-William Butler Yeats

These words speak of the power of education. Education makes rational thinkers. Indian agricultural system is in need of such an

orientation. Education can be formal, informal,

and also non-formal in nature. Formal education is classroom-centric, leading to certificates and degrees. Informal education is grounded in

practical and real-life experiences. Non-formal education is a continuous and life-long process. The agricultural education system is best served by all these three.

Changing Agricultural scenarioToday, India hosts one of the most expansive networks of agricultural research and academic institutions through its National Agricultural Research System (NARS), comprising 113 ICAR Centres, 5 Central and 77 State

Agricultural Universities (CAUs/SAUs). India’s agricultural educational

system has served the agricultural sector well. The present-day paradigm shift in agriculture is led by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of doubling of farmers’ income by 2022. The Inter-Ministerial Committee on Doubling Farmers’ Income (DFI) has amongst others

emphasized on a newapproach

to science, technology, innovation, extension and education in the agricultural domain. It recommends that National Agricultural Research System should adopt Science for Delivery in place of Science for Discovery. It also recommends new extension system that co-opts both public and private sector facilitators, besides manpower-digital technology-based platform.

The urgency is for an agricultural value system. The potential of the country’s agriculture can be fully harvested only by focussing on all its sub-sectors, all regions of the country and all segments of the agricultural value chain including post-harvest management.

National Education Policy 2020 and AgricultureThe country’s SAUs constitute around


nine percent of all the universities, but with an enrolment of less than one per cent of the total. A change is in order to meet the enhanced demand for professionals. The New Education Policy, 2020 calls for upgradation of capacity and quality of all the sub-sectors of agriculture, to ameliorate the economic status of the Indian farmers. It is integrated education that will throw up good professionals in agriculture and veterinary sciences. These professionals must be able to delineate current and future challenges, and offer solutions through a blend of indigenous technology & modern science and technology-led knowledge.

These include productivity breakthroughs, resource use efficiency, sustainability, minimisation of food loss and waste, and optimisation of profits. This means transforming agriculture into agri-business wherein farmer- entrepreneurs generate jobs and wealth, even as food security is ensured. Hence, the new Policy should offer scientists and practitioners who can support Bio-economy (bio-materials, bio-enzymes& bio-fuels) in the 21st century. The cafeteria of professionals must meet the requirements of all sub-sectors and all segments (pre- & post-production besides production per se).

Fifth Deans’ Committee: A Game ChangerEmployment options through wage and self-employment avenues have been the general approach. Knowledge and entrepreneurship can create a chain of job generating options, and agriculture contains huge potential for this. The scope lies in processing, connecting to markets, agri-logistics, aggregation, forecasting and risk management and supply chains. Agricultural students should be prepared for the world of liberalised markets, differentiated consumer demands and competition wherein technology will play a key role.

Further, the agricultural extension needs to metamorphose into a decentralized, demand-driven, farm

market-oriented and real-time data diffusing system. There is space for both public and private sector-operated extension mechanism. The implication is the need for professionalism that celebrates team work, alliances, leadership, right aptitude and attitude etc.

Hence, the system should strengthen the environment for Student Ready Program, Experiential Learning and more such On-Field & In-Plant engagements. The students should get more confident of applying their pedagogy to field situations – both on and off-farm.

The Fifth Deans’ Committee of ICAR highlighted the importance of entrepreneurship, and recommended concomitant curricula reforms for undergraduate/diploma programs. Hence, the Committee introduced Entrepreneurship Development and Business Management as one of the common courses across the degree programmes.

The DFI Committee RecommendationsNoting the dissonance between the research work carried out by the students (Masters & Doctorate) and the real ground realities, the DFI Committee stressed on location-specific choice of research problems for greater utility. Highlighting the importance of revitalising agriculture as an enterprise, the Committee suggested constitution of a Central Board of Studies at the national level to review and regulate changes in curriculum across all the SAUs, and bring entrepreneurial skill

and extension framework as core concern. As also observed by the DFI Committee, the SAUs need

to give due importance to basic sciences and social

sciences for wholesome education in agricultural sciences.

National Agriculture Higher Education Project (NAHEP)This World Bank supported NAHEP aims to build capacities of both the faculty and students, and upgrade the SAUs to global level. The emphasis is on developing soft components of the agricultural education system. The NAHEP also provides for Country Partnership Strategy and addresses three key areas - integration, transformation and inclusion, necessary for improving quality of higher education. The Project promotes equal access to vocational training vis-à-vis all including women, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all. Specifically, NAHEP also addresses the issues of climate change, gender and equity which are critical components of a transformational education system.

Role of a TeacherThe teachers set the stage for learning, as they are the ones who facilitate, guide and foster thinking. Continuous professional development of the teaching faculty in consonance with the changing needs of the society is the hallmark of an efficient educational system. The system must provide adequately for their orientation & training.

Education has the potential to improve the quality of human resources and accelerate socio-economic change. In India, agriculture will continue to play an important role, and its efficiency will depend upon the proficiency and contemporaneousness of the agricultural professionals. The agricultural educational system must be progressive and dynamic enough to change with time.


aGri ConCernS

the FArMer &hiS FAMilY

PROBLEMS & SURVIVAL

AbOuttHE AutHOR

Prof Sangita Srivastava is Vice Chancellor, University of Allahabad and former VC, PRSU Prayagraj. She has been Member of the Editorial Board of several peer reviewed research journals. She has written four books and has three patents registered.


aGri ConCernS

Prof Srivastava has adopted five villages to teach health, hygiene

and sanitation to women and children

Just before the shadows of pandemic covered us all, I was on a visit to the village school at Kaushambi district. About 2000 children from far and near

villages study here. A survey and a dietary recall of last seven days of all the children was collected. A set of questionnaires was prepared and data was collected through thepersonalinterviewfrom781children.Blood samples were also collected, for testing haemoglobin level by a trained physiologist.

The results of the dietary recall were astounding. Many children said they would have no breakfast or one stale chapati with tea. Dinner would be chapatti, salt and onion slices. Midday meal at school was their first meal of the day. It wasagonizingtofindthatwhenabundantgrain and milk grow in their farmstead, the farmers’ own children are malnourished

and ill-fed because of food deprivation. The result of blood test and

haemoglobin level of girls shows that 44 pc girls were moderately anaemic and 27.64pcgirlsweremildanaemic.

The haemoglobin level of boys was found better than girls. 14 pc boys of aged than 15 years old were found mild anaemic

and 8.77 pc boys were moderatelyanaemic. 47 pc boys of age more than 15 years old were found mild anaemic and 5.26pcboysweremoderatelyanaemic.The children apparently come to school because of mid-day meal. The farmer is growing food for the urban India, toiling night and day. He is under pressure to sell all his produce so that he can fetch some money to meet other basic needs like clothing and shelter. The farmers continue to rear cows and buffalos as a source of their livelihood. But balanced animal feed is beyond the means of the farmer.

Human Development Index Human Development Index (HDI) is defined as a composite index combining indicators representing three dimensions. These are longevity (life expectancy at birth), knowledge (adult literacy rate and mean year of schooling) and income (real GDP per capita in purchasing power-parity with dollars). HDI provides a more comprehensive picture of human life than actual income does. The HDI for a country shows the distance that it has travelled towards maximum possible value and also allows comparison with other countries. The top HDI ranking countries are Canada, Norway and USA. The countries at the bottom are Nigeria & Ethopia. India comes in the medium human development category ranking at 132, but it is a grim situation.


Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.Nelson Mandela

The National Institute of Agri-cultural Extension Manage-ment (MANAGE) being the national apex organizationunder the Ministry of Agri-

culture and Farmers Welfare, GOI, has pioneered in implementing a number of entrepreneurial and agri business edu-cation programmes for various stake-holders across the country. Most of the MANAGE programmes aim at increas-ing the vocational skills of the benefi-ciaries so as to help them establish re-munerative ventures.

the biG ViSion

Role of MANAGe

InnovatIons In agrIbusIness educatIon

Dr P Chandra Shekara is Director General, National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (MANAGE), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, GOI. Dr Shekara takes keen interest

in the promotion of agri-preneurship among agricultural graduates through agri-clinics and the Agri Business Center (ACABC)

Scheme by establishing 30,000 Agriventures across the country. He developed the Public Private Partnership concept and pilot-tested it in the field. He also successfully implemented the Feed the Future India Triangular Training (FTF ITT) program funded by USAID in 20 Asian and African countries

Agriclinic or Agribusiness Centre MANAGE is implementing a unique programme of GOI, the Agri-Clinic & Agri-Business Centre, to take better methods of farming to each and every farmer across the country. It aims to tap the expertise available in the large pool of agriculture graduates and offer professional extension services to innu-merable farmers. The graduates in Agri-culture and allied sectors such as Horti-culture, Sericulture, Veterinary Sciences and other science graduates are trained for a period of 45 days in entrepreneur-ship. The trained candidates are eligible to avail bank loans up to Rs 20 lakh for an individual project (Rs 25 lakhs for ex-tremely successful individual projects) and up to Rs100 lakh for a group project.

Diploma in Agricultural Extension Services for Input Dealers MANAGE launched a self-financed One-year Diploma in Agricultural Exten-sion Services for Input Dealers (DAESI) Program in 2003 with course fee of Rs 20, 000 for input dealers. Due to positive impact of the program, Ministry of Ag-

riculture & Farmers’ Welfare (MoAFW), GOI, implemented this program as a scheme for input dealers in through-out the country. GOI is subsidizingthe course fee (50 pc) to the extent of 10,000 per Input dealer.

Skill Development of Rural Youth (STRY)MoAFW, in compliance with National Policy on Skill Development & Entre-preneurship 2015, has taken the initia-tive to implement the Skill Development Component, namely Skill Training of Ru-ral Youth (STRY). This has been under-taken under Sub-Mission on Agricultural Extension (SAME) of National Mission on Agricultural Extension & Technology (NMAET)from2015-16.Atnationallev-el, MANAGE is coordinating this activ-ity through SAMETI at state level. The training is implemented through SAME-TIs with the help of various Nodal Train-ing Institutes across the country.

Startup Agri-Business Incubation Program under RKVY-RAFTAARRashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana – Re-

about the author


munerative Approaches for Agricul-ture and Allied Sectors Rejuvenation (RKVY-RAFTAAR) is a unique scheme of MoAFW. It is aimed at strengthening infrastructure in Agriculture and Allied sectors to promote agri-preneurship and agri-business by facilitating financial aid and nurturing a system of business in-cubation. Startup Agri-Business Incu-bation Program, a financial assistance program with maximum of Rs 25 lakh will be granted to potential startups that have a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) based on innovative solutions, process-es, products, services or business mod-els in agriculture and allied sectors.

Aqua Clinics and Aquapreneurship Development Programme MANAGE has initiated the Aqua Clin-ics and Aquapreneurship Development Programme (AC&ADP) in collaboration with National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB),Hyderabadsince2018.The purpose is to create self- employ-ment opportunity for the unemployed graduates and post graduates in Fish-eries, Aquaculture, Marine Biology, Life Sciences, Agriculture and allied subjects or diploma in Fisheries Science to be-come self-reliant. It is a free residential programmefor28days,conductedwiththe help of 19 Fisheries Nodal Training Institutes (NTIs) across the country.

PG Diploma in Agricultural Extension Management MANAGE has been conducting a Post Graduate Diploma Programme in Agri-cultural Extension Management (PG-

the biG ViSion

DAEM) for agricultural extension func-tionaries since 2007-08 through OpenDistance Education mode. Around 13000 individuals have been completed this programme.

PG Diploma in Agri-warehousing Management MANAGE has launched an educational program of one-year duration on Post Graduate Diploma in Agri-Warehousing Management (PGDAWM) for graduates of any disciplines from 2019. It aims to create a pool of warehouse profession-

als with capacity to manage agri-ware-house efficiently, help them enhance their knowledge on modern warehouse management and understanding of re-lated aspects like negotiable warehouse receipts, inventory and collateral man-agement.

Certified Farm Advisor/Certified Livestock Advisor Another innovative programme of MAN-AGE is Certified Farm Advisor/Certified Livestock Advisor. The purpose is to develop Agricultural Extension Person-nel into Specialists in a particular crop or livestock.

Certified Course on Integrated Nutrient Management (CCINM)MANAGE conducts a 15-day residential certificate course for fertiliser dealers to equip them with professional com-petency on plant health management and advisory services. This certificate course helps the dealers to renew their fertiliser licenses.

PG Diploma in Management (Agribusiness Management) MANAGE commenced a two-year resi-dential PG Diploma in Management (Agri Business Management) in 1996on a self-financing basis. The program is recognizedbyAllIndiaCouncilforTech-nical Education (AICTE) and accredited by the National Board of Accreditation (NBA). The Association of Indian Uni-versities has accorded equivalency to MANAGE PGDM (ABM) with MBA of an Indian university.

In order to build the technical competence of agri-input dealers and enable them to act as para-extension professionals, MANAGE

offers a one-year diploma in Agricultural extension services for Input dealers with course

fee of Rs 20, 000

The Certified Farm Advisor/Certified

Livestock Advisor course offered by MANAGE

develops Agricultural Extension Personnel into Specialists in a particular

crop or livestock

25


National Agriculture Coopera-tive Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) has been designated as one of the Na-tional Implementing Agen-

cies for formation and promotion of 10000 FPOs Programme of the Ministry of Agri-culture and Farmers Welfare. NAFED has been implementing various initiatives to support Farmer Producer Organizations(FPO) which include involvement of Co-operative Societies and Farmer Producer Companies for marketing of agricultural produce on the output side as well as forsupplyof inputsviz.seeds,fertilizers,equipments etc. under different programs.

NAFED was established with the ob-jective to promote the trade of agricultural produce and forest resources across the nation. It has been supporting farmers through procurement of agri-produce at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) under thePriceSupportScheme(PSS) for16notified commodities, thereby providing remunerative prices to farmers.

addreSSinG FarmerS’ ConCernS

NAFED has recently taken over the national level Federation of Indian FPOs and Aggregators (FIFA) with the aim to support the Farmer ProducerOrganiza-tions (FPOs) by linking them to markets for their Agriculture Produce as well as supply of agriculture inputs. The vision and mission of FIFA is to support small holder farmers in enhancing their in-comes through innovative agribusiness solutions and equitable, sustainable, scal-able, technology driven agri-markets. In order to accomplish its mission FIFA will provide incubation support to FPOs by promoting and strengthening the FPOs and addressing the challenges of access to investment, technology and quality in-puts. In parallel, FIFA will also work with

its various stakeholders including buyers, service providers etc. to create business relationships to scale FPO business and revenues.

NAFED e-Kisan Mandi (NeKM) NAFED-FIFA have partnered with a na-tional level digital service provider to set up national level digital platform for agri-produce marketing. The platform will facili-tate online and physical auctioning, price discovery, quality assaying, logistics and payments in a transparent and efficient manner. NAFED-FIFA will partner with the FPOs to set up agri-produce markets all over the country in hub-and-spoke model. Sellers and buyers will have access to the digital platform for agri-produce market-ing.

These digitally enabled agri-produce markets will be named as NAFED e-Kisan Mandi (NeKM). The Spoke-NeKMs will be set up in the production clusters of rural area. The Hub-NeKM will be set at theconsumptioncentersviz.metrocities.

NAFED-FIFA INITIATIVES MARKETING SUPPORT TO FPOFOR DOUBLING FARMER INCOMES THROUGH

More than 60 Years in Service


addreSSinG FarmerS’ ConCernS

The hub-and-spoke model will bring maxi-mum share of the consumer price to the farmers.

NeKM as a concept has emerged from the path-breaking reforms that have been unleashed by GOI for the agriculture sector. NeKM will be an electronic Trad-ing Platform with physical infrastructure at each proposed location in partner-ship with local FPO. The physical infra-structure will include digital platform with auctioning facility, pack-house (including sorting-grading, packing and pre-cooling facilities), warehouse and cold storages if required.

FPOs will get funding support through Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF) and subsidies available under various central and state government schemes to set up the infrastructure required for NeKM. NAFED-FIFA will take focused initiatives to support FPOs in developing business plans, bankable proposals, convergence with government schemes and online as well as physical buyers including organ-izedplayers(local,regionalandnational),Startups, HORECA, processors and in-stitutions to provide maximum possible realization to farmers.The firstHubhasbeen launched at Pune in partnership with MAHAFPC – a FPO Federation in Maharashtra.

Advantages of NeKMl Addressing challenges of scale as well as sustainability being faced by FPOs all over India by integrating their business models with well-functioning markets/mandis located at production clusters as Spokes and at consumption centres (ma-jor towns) as Hub. This will help them sav-ing transportation cost, transit losses and increasetheirnetpricerealization.l Prevent exploitation by local traders

who compel farmers to sell their produce at the farm gate for an extremely low price.l Selling their produce in auction with

price transparency brought through online digital platforms.l Access to real time data to plan

supplies from FPOs in accordance with demand trends and in turn better price realization.

NAFED has worked extensively with Farmer owned institutions/FPOs. Some successstoriesaregivenbelow:

n Marketing of onion and pulses through MAHA-FPC, (Federation of FPOs inMaharashtra)amountingtoRs.612Cr.during last two years.

n Procurement of red gram through Karnataka Farmers Maha Society (KFMS), a federation of FPOs in north KarnatakaamountingtoRs145.82croreduring2017-18

n NAFED has an exclusive branch for marketing of horticulture produce in Asia’s largest fruit and vegetable Mandi at Azadpur,DelhiwhichhasfacilitatedsaleofFPOproduceamounting toRs96.85crore during last two years.

n NAFED has been involved in pro-curement of oilseeds and pulses under Price Support Scheme(PSS) and has procured pulses and oilseeds of value Rs 66967croreduring2018-19.

n NAFED assisted GOI in creation of bufferstockunderthePriceStabilizationFund (PSF) Scheme 2015-21 to the tune of Rs 7424 crore.

n NAFED has been nominated for supply of pulses to the Army and Central Para Military Forces and to states under different welfare schemes such as PDS, MDM and ICDS out of the national buffer and has conducted transactions of Rs 2554 crore till date.

FIFA would like to empanel all the FPOs in the country for market integra-tion. FIFA will work extensively to build ca-pacity of its member FPOs and available governmentschemesviz.

n Agriculture Infrastructure Fund to set up NeKM and other infrastructure

n Operation Green for Tomato, Onion, Potato and other crops

n Market Intervention Scheme for hor-ticulture produce

nSupplyofseeds,Fertilizers,Equip-ment through FPOs

n Promotion of Organic Farmingn DPR and business plan for Sorting/

Grading/Packaging facilities, Warehouse, Cold Chains, Rural Marts etc.

After the launch of the Formation of 10,000 FPO program by the MoA&FW, NAFED was the first implementing agen-cy to mobilize Beekeepers and HoneyCollectors and register five FPOs in the given districts of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and West Bengal. Hon. Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare inaugurated these FPOs on November 19, 2020 in a virtual func-tionorganizedbytheMoA&FWandinter-acted with the member farmers/beekeep-ers. NAFED-FIFA will support these FPOs to set up honey collection and processing plants, its packaging, branding and mar-keting through retail stores of NAFED in Metro and other towns.

There are around 25 retail stores op-erating in Delhi. NAFED has planned to set up many new retail stores across the country which will market FPO produce to the urban consumer. Similarly, through NAFED-FIFA support, FPOs will set up Rural Marts to supply agri-inputs and items of daily needs to the farmers and ru-ral consumers. It will help to grow the FPO business and they will become sustain-able. The supply chain will work like Farm to Fork, will bring maximum share of the price to the farmer and contribute towards doubling his income.


· The second oldest Agricultural University of India carrying out teaching, research and extension.

· Offers courses in Agriculture and allied areas through 10 Colleges, one Centre for PG studies and 10 Agro-polytechnic Centers.

· Produced 28,000 alumni, serving in India & abroad

· Developed 152 crop varieties & 38 farm machineries

· Research works on crop, animal and fish are carried out through 08 Regional Research & Technology Transfer Stations, 04 Regional Research & Technology Transfer Sub Stations, 07 Commodity Research Stations and 52 All India Coordinated Research Projects.

· Serving the farmers through 31 Krishi Vigyan Kendras by extension of lab technologies to farmers’ field.

Come and Join !!!

Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology Bhubaneswar, Odisha

For further details visit: www.ouat.nic.in

AGRICULTURE TODAYMarch 2021 29NCDEX IPFT Disclaimer: All transactions are subject to market risk. To participate in commodity market, contact any SEBI registered broker of the Exchange. Read the Risk Disclosure Document (RDD) carefully before transacting in Commodity Futures and Options. This publication has been made through the NCDEX Investor (Client) Protection Fund Trust for educational and awareness purposes so that the general public is made aware of new hedging tools and general information. Neither NCDEX nor the NCDEX IPF Trust or their a�liates, associates, representatives, directors, mployees or agents shall be responsible in any manner to any person or entity for any decisions or actions taken on the basis of this publication. No part of this publication may be redistributed or reproduced without written permission from NCDEX.

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road map for agriculTural educaTion

opportunitieS

India’s New Education Policy 2020 has proposed several changes in the education system including higher education. NEP 2020 envisions a complete overhaul and reenergising

of the higher education system to overcome the challenges that were faced, and deliver high quality higher education with equity and inclusion. Its vision for transforming agricultural education is to strengthen linkages between agriculture education and allied disciplines. It has stated that “the design of Agricultural Education will have to be strengthened towards developing professionals.”

Another important criteria envisioned by NEP 2020 is that agricultural education universities and colleges must benefit local communities. Therefore the existing institutions will need to reinvent themselves and their structure will have to undergo an evolution. The universities will need to display commitment to institutional excellence, engagement with their local communities and accountability.

To implement NEP 2020 in agriculture sector, we have to understand the major recommendations and the tentative road-

map suggested. These include the following:• Holistic and multidisci-

plinary education • Academicbankofcredit/Introduction of credit bank and credit transfer facility • Flexible curricula andcreative combinations of

subjects• Multiple entry and exit

points with appropriate certifications•Credit based courses/project in the

area of community engagement and service, environmental and value-based subjects

To achieve the above mentioned recommendations,NEP2020suggests:• Those who have been admitted in

graduation course and want to leave after one year will be awarded a certificate

• Those who want to leave after twoyears will be awarded a diploma

Implementation of NEP 2020

AbOut tHE AutHORDr R C Srivastava

is Vice Chancellor, Dr Rajendra Prasad Central

Agricultural University, Pusa Samastipur,

Bihar



• Complete degree in 3 years anddegree with research in four years

• MoreemphasisonSkillingThe NEP objective is to design

agriculture education towards developing professionals. Hence we must assess manpower requirement in agriculture. Broadly we need manpower forfollowingcategories:i. Manpower to perform low-end

jobs i.e. mechanics, tractor/farm machinery drivers, field staff for micro irrigation, AI/ET workers, poly house maintenance, nursery raising etc.

ii. Manpower for lower-level extension workers of government and industry

iii. Manpower for middle-level staff in government, banking and input suppliers

iv. Manpower for academics and research

v. Manpower for middle level staff in industry Our agricultural education system

has to be modified to achieve the goal of preparing professionals for each level. Any mismatch between skill level, aspiration and capability of persons will lead to frustration among people as well as lack of appropriately trained manpower.Iproposethefollowing:

1 Year certificate course in different disciplines of agriculture to be provided at KVKs. The students will be from local area and will be mostly day scholars.

After completing this course, the top 20 pc who have competence and flair for higher education will be admitted in first year of Graduation course. If they want to leave after completion of first year, they will be awarded diploma. If they continue for full course, they will be exempted from RAWE and ELP in fourth year. They will get degree in four years including one year in certificate course. This will provide an additional entry path as well as three exit paths.

As envisaged earlier, certificate holders can opt for diploma. They will be suitable to fulfil manpower requirement for lower level extension workers in government and industry. The graduates after the four-year course will provide manpower for lower middle extension workers for government and industry.

Graduates who opt for post graduate degree in different disciplines of agriculture, MBA in Agri Business Management/ Rural Management will be suitable for middle level staff for government, banking and input suppliers.

The post graduates can move for PhD (3 years minimum) and will meet manpower requirement of teaching/research. Those who want to go for PhD straight after graduation will have to opt for one year course and three years research.

Graduates may also opt for one-year specific course to make them

industry-ready professionals. This has been recommended by NEP as a one-year Master program. It can be called the PG Diploma to differentiate it from the MSc course of two years. The PG Diploma can be of two semesters, one for classroom teaching and another for industry internship. Diploma courses will be industry specific viz., warehousingmanagement, micro-irrigation, food processing, aquaculture, fish processing, pomology, seed technology, olericulture, floriculture etc. The students with these PG diplomas will be industry-ready professionals.

Future of Stand-Alone UniversitiesAnother recommendation of NEP 2020 is to integrate stand-alone universities with other universities. This may not be a good idea. The infrastructure in these specific universities can be strengthened by adding two colleges in them:Collegeof(Relevant)Technologyand College of Basic Sciences. These stand-alone Universities of Fisheries, Horticulture & Veterinary can be made multi-disciplinaryinthefollowingway:

Each such university should have an Engineering College to deal with the specific requirement of that discipline in terms of optimization, tools andprocessing, etc. This shall provide required engineering input to improve their productivity and profitability.

College of Basic Sciences will play a supporting role to the main discipline. It will provide knowledge in Basic Sciences, our ancient culture and ethos, Vedic sciences as well as languages. This college will also have MSc and PhD courses for research on fundamental prospects of these sciences, which we lack at present.

We need to approach the implementation of NEP 2020 with an open mind to derive the best out of this policy. Flexibility is fundamental to all its recommendations. We should plan our roadmap based on specific requirements of manpower for different sectors.

opportunitieS



agri-business managemenTfor aaTmnirbhar bharaT

Similarly, if the average land holding of the Indian farmer-household is falling below 1 hectare, the modern technology is making unskilled workers less useful on land. Therefore, the challenge is to adopt appropriate technology such as smart drip irrigation, digital agriculture, and vertical farming on the one hand, and promote food processing sector for employment generation on the other. Sustainability issues have added another dimension to the farm sector.

To address these competing objectives, India needs lots of agricultural engineers, nutritionists, food technologists, plant pathologists, and seed and soil scientists. To tie the complex sciences together and make them succeed in a market-driven society, we will need ever increasing participation of professional private organizations. Farmer producerorganisations (FPO) such as Sahyadri, a cooperative society such as Amul, a joint stock company such as Patanjali or Godrej Agro Vet are just a few examples of these. Importantly, growing numbers of such agribusiness firms will need qualified business management professionals to run the firms successfully.

Need for agri-preneursIn today’s market place, one needs to understand the nuances of technology, finance, marketing, branding, human resource (HR) practices, corporate social responsibility (CSR), as also environmental regulations. Therefore, hiring business management professionals in food organizations has become important.And it need not be just about hiring managers. Successful corporates are becoming venture capitalists (VC) and are on the constant look-out for funding entrepreneurs who want to bring bright ideas to the market. A significant proportion of such VC funded entrepreneurs have a potential to cater the market through

Prof Satish Deodhar is a faculty member at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA). He earned his PhD in Agricultural Economics from The Ohio State University. He teaches in the MBA programme at IIMA. One of his books Day to Day Economics has become a national bestseller

about the author

ShoulderinG reSponSibility

Prof. Nilakantha Rath, my teacher and Ex-Director of Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE), Pune, was one of the pioneers in defining poverty line in India in terms of daily calorie intake of an individual. In the late 1970s, Cambridge economist Prof Joan Robinson visited him in GIPE. Professors

Rath and Robinson were discussing issues related to India’s economic development. Prof Robinson said, “For rapid economic development, India needs lots of scientists and engineers.” Prof. Rath was quick to reply. “Yes, we need lots of scientists and engineers, but we also need a few good economists!”

Today, in the food and agricultural sector, the same is true for business management professionals. As the per capita GDP of India is growing rapidly, so is the twin deficit of malnutrition among the poor and obesity among the rich. Therefore, production and marketing of nutrition-rich and healthy food products on the one hand, and providing equitable access to food on the other has assumed importance.


food and agriculture sector. As Sage Shukracharya opined in Shukranitisara, v;ksX;% iq:”kks ukfLr ;kstdLr= nqyZHk% (All are important in their own right but the entrepreneur who manages them all is a rarity).

A person with prior background in food and agricultural sciences has a first-mover-advantage in succeeding as a manager or entrepreneur in the food and agri-business sector. In all parts of the country, we have excellent Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) institutions that impart scientific training in the field of food and agriculture. Of course, many students would like to pursue their first love and become a scientist. And why not – Indian scientists including Dr. Swaminathan (1987)and Dr. Rattan Lal (2020) have won the World Food Prize, an agricultureequivalent of Nobel Prize. But onemust also remember that two other Indians who were businessmen to the core – BR Barwale (1998) of MahycoandDrVergheseKurien(1989)ofAmulreceived the same award.

India’s food and agricultural sector needs many agricultural scientists and progressive farmers. It also needs many good business management professionals. At least a few good students from ICAR institutions who have analytical minds must pursue higher studies in management and business administration. To earn Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from leading management institutions, there will be severe competition from students of other educational streams. This means that one must focus and prepare hard for the selection process, which includes getting past entrance examinations and personal interviews.

Investment in management education for a student from agricultural stream is not an investment for the professional and personal growth of an individual alone. As economists say, there are many positive externalities of management education on the society at large. Of course, many MBA graduates

with food and agricultural background will run successful businesses and contribute to the welfare of the society. Others need not necessarily remain in the corporate world or become entrepreneurs. After a while, some can also become academicians, consultants, advisors to politicians, or become politicians themselves. The collective understanding of such business management professionals regarding the food and agriculture sector, the working of market forces and government policies can lead to

better decision making for the society at large. If the stakeholders associated with the newly-enacted farm reform bills had the benefit of knowing the business management perspective of the reforms, perhaps we would not have witnessed the response as is being exhibited in the outskirts of New Delhi.

To turn India into an Atmanirbhar Bharat, it is not expected that each one should sacrifice more than necessary. In fact, each one should contribute using his or her academic credentials to the best of his/her abilities. As Adam Smith said in his treatise The Wealth of Nations, “It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest. We address ourselves, not to their humanity but to their self-love.”

All graduates from the food and agriculture institutions need not become business management professionals. India needs good scientists in the agricultural sector. India also needs a few good business management professionals who will choose such a career out of their self-love.

Prof. Deodhar is a history buff. He recently wrote a book,

Economic Sutra: Ancient Indian Antecedents to Economic

Thought

ShoulderinG reSponSibility




Self-reliance in agriculture aims at making farmers both producers and successful entrepreneurs. Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan’s mission is

to give importance to local products and strengthen the Make in India initiative, including the agriculture sector.

To encourage entrepreneurship in agriculture, there is need to create an ecosystem that promotes people to be

CruCial linkS

BuiLdiNG AATMNirBhAr BhArAT

Vital Role ofAgricultural Education

part of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Agricultural graduates are no exception.

The National Agricultural Higher Education Project, an ICAR-World Bank Funded Project, addresses the quality and relevance of Agricultural Education through technically sound and verifiable investments that increase faculty performance, attract better students to Agricultural Universities (AUs), improve student learning

outcomes and raise their prospects for future employability. In addition to education, skill development is becoming important in the changing scenario of climate, production, processing, storage, marketing and trade in agriculture along with technological development. The new agricultural education policy should have a vision to develop graduates with skills of fundamental and contemporary technology, and the grass root work force

Dr S Rajendra Prasad is Vice-Chancellor, University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), BengaluruWith Dr Umesh K B and Dr MK Prasanna Kumar

about the authorS


CruCial linkS

of agricultural production processes with multi skills. Further, it should focus on imparting skills to graduating students and transforming rural unskilled youth work force to skilled workforce for a self-sustained agro-ecosystem with entrepreneurship for livelihood.

Skill-based training, encouraging entrepreneurshipThere is need to strategize, identifyand prioritize the major challenges inagriculture education to draw a road map. New talent and skill must be created. Agricultural production in India can be cost effective and quality competitive.

The promotion of Brand India is imperative for the Indian agricultural education system to make a clear imprint at the global academic level. With the changing paradigm, the skills of the agricultural graduates must also change and develop to meet the management demands of the enterprise globally.

Indian knowledge systems, including tribal knowledge and indigenous and traditional ways of learning need to be taken note of and included in agriculture education and governance, polity and conservation. Specific courses in natural resource management especially, forest management, traditional (organic) crop cultivation, natural farming, etc. should be given priority.

The councils, such as the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), Veterinary Council of India (VCI), can act as Professional Standard Setting Bodies (PSSBs). They are expected to play a vital role in the higher agricultural education system in the country. Although Agricultural Universities comprise approximately 9% of all universities across the country, enrolment in agriculture and allied sciences is less than 1% of all enrolment in higher education. Both capacity and quality of agriculture and allied disciplines must be improved to increase agricultural productivity through better skilled

graduates and technicians, innovative research, and market-based extension linked to technologies and practices.

The design of agricultural education should shift towards developing professionals to understand and use local and traditional knowledge and emerging technologies. Agricultural education mustbecognizantofcriticalissuessuchas declining land productivity, climate change, food demand, environmental degradation, etc. Institutions offering agricultural education must directly benefit the local community. One approach could be to set up Agricultural Technology Parks to promote technology incubation and disseminate knowledge and promote sustainable methodologies.

Agricultural Technology Parks should support agri-tech startups to enhance rural livelihoods and reduce costs associated with climatic uncertainties and traditional farming practices. To enable this, financial credits/ concessional loans have been provided as a part of the Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to boost crop management, repayment, rural banks’ efficiency and infrastructure development.

Advancements in technologies that can improve the quality

of agricultural produce such as IoT/ analytics/ blockchain for climate intelligence, forecasting

solutions, machine learning to identify crop stages,

artificial intelligence to reduce crop wastage, soil health monitoring,

plant image recognition, geospatial

tracking, and sustainable packing, can help achieve this goal.

Agriculture education must also aim to offer PhD and Masters programmes in core areas such as Machine Learning and big data analytics and multidisciplinary fields, AI, internet and climate smart agriculture. There is also a need to develop online courses combining modern technologies with local knowledge suitable for specific agro-climaticzones.

To attain the goal of agricultural education with excellence and the corresponding multitude of benefits to this nation and its economy, a substantial increase in public investment in agricultural education by central and state governments is needed. Despite this critical importance of research, the research and innovation investment in Indiais,atthecurrenttime,only0.69%ofGDPascomparedto2.8%intheUnitedStates of America, 4.3% in Israel and 4.2% in South Korea. The Centre and the states need to work together amicably to increase public investment in agricultural research to reach at least 1% of GDP at the earliest.

While aiming to develop the scientific workforce, the new National Education Policy should also aim to enhance crops’ productivity levels with increased efficiency in using scarce resources, especially water. It is equally important to focus on attaining self-sufficiency in oilseeds and pulses.

The farm varsities spread across the country have a vast network with state-of-the-art technologies and human resource. They are capable of exploiting the potential available in the domain of agriculture and allied activities namely, herbal cultivation, beekeeping, fisheries, farm mechanization, sericulture, animalhusbandry, with global branding. The new agriculture education system should focus on transforming agriculture towards vocal to local and local to global and provide a platform for attaining sustainable and self-reliant India. The post-Covid era may usher in unprecedented opportunities and challenges in all the sectors of the economy including agriculture.


teAcHing :• Universityhasdrawn-outitsacademic

programs to meet the requirement of human resources in the face of changing agriculture scenario

• SixUnder-GraduateDegree programsin Agriculture, Sericulture, Food Science & Technology, Agri-Business Management, Agri-Biotech and Agricultural Engineering including 22 Postgraduate programs & 15 Doctoral degree programs are being offered across six campuses

• UniversityalsooffersTwo-yeardiplomain Agriculture (Kannada medium) and

various Diploma & Certificate Courses through Distance Education

• The student placement cell providescareer guidance and job opportunities to students

• The International Centre coordinatesall the international activities and facilitates academic interactions outside the Country

• SkillDevelopmentCenterdevelopsthemulti skills of graduates in fundamental and contemporary technologies

• University has modern virtualclassrooms and well equipped laboratories, central instrumentation facility for PG and faculties fundamental and applied research

• University has several initiativesto make the campus greener and free of plastic and Green Certificate Programme to the students

• All the campus hostels are providedwith indoor games, gymnasium and network facilities linked to library with LAN/Wi-Fi

• University has set up a CentralizedComputer Laboratory and Agriculture Knowledge Management Unit that caters to the needs of PG students/faculty research and data analysis.

reseArcH: Climate-smart, low cost, highly efficient, sustainable and en-vironmental friendly crop production technologies are be-ing developed by the University.• Research programmes are planned

in 13 ARS situated in 10 Southern Districts of the state

• University has developed agriculturaltechnologies that have paved a way for empowering and improving the lifestyle of farmers

• The research programmes forimproving the various crops, related inputs and resources in agriculture, focusing on Bio-technology, nano-technology sensor based irrigation, cropping, farm mechanization and farming systems approach

• Universityhasdevelopedandreleased296 crop varieties and six animal breeds that has substantially contributed for enhanced farm productivity

• ThewatershedmodeldevelopedbytheUniversity has been replicated across the country enhancing productivity levels of dry land

• University produces Nucleus seeds tomeet the demand of all the released varieties

• University currently operating 283research projects funded by State & Central Government and World Bank

extension: • TheDirectorate ofExtension is carry-

ing out the v a r i o u s extension services to help the f a r m i n g communi-

ty in 10 districts of Southern Karnataka• Krishimela conducted successfully

during 2020 through virtual and offline mode was the attraction amidst the crisis induced by Covid-19

• Agri-War Unit established during thelockdown crisis of Covid-19, was a boon for the woes of farming community in terms of marketing their produce and for advisory services

AwArDs:• University has been bestowed

twice with prestigious ‘Sardar Patel

Outstanding ICAR Institution Award• UniversityisamongthetopthreeState

Agricultural Universities for maximum number of JRFs in the last decade

• KVK, Bengaluru Rural District wasawarded with National Level Best KVK Award and AICRP on Agro-meteorology, Dryland Agriculture, Forage crops and Post-Harvest Engineering & Technology, Bengaluru centres were conferred with the Best Centre Awards during the last three years

• University is recipient of Five-StarInstitution Award by the Government of Karnataka

university of Agricultural Sciences, BangaloreUniversity of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore having collegiate structure is one of the prominent Universities in agricultural education and research in the country. In an effort to expand agricultural education, UAS, Bangalore has ensured a broad geographic spread of its Teaching, Research & Extension campuses in different regions covering 10 southern districts of Karnataka.

Contact us: Registrar,UniversityofAgriculturalSciences,GKVK,Bengaluru-560065Ph:080-23330984,080-23330153Extn.205FAX:080-23330984e-mail:[email protected]:www.uasbangalore.edu.in

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BUilDinginnovAtorsE

ducation in agriculture needs to undergo shifts from a production mindset to a market-oriented mindset. Academics and

industry linkages need to be deepened and strengthened. Academics and startups need to be in constant dialogue and collaborate to bring positive changes in the lives of Indian farmers.

The FPO movement in India also needs strong support from the agricultural education system. Entire curriculums needs to be made contemporary given the tectonic shifts taking place in the sector.

the learninG

about the author

Mr Sunil khairnar (B.Tech & IIM-A) founded

ISAp, Agriwatch and IlF. He has been working for 25 years in agribusiness, commodities and

development sector in India besides mentoring social entrepreneurs and impact

start-ups

I will detail out some of the fundamental traits and characteristics which youth must have before they step into the work place. Agricultural universities and colleges need to impart these skills irrespective of the courses beingtakenbytheirstudents:

THINKING ABILITIES:I don’t know if Critical Thinking as a subject is taught in agriculture and allied sector colleges. This is an area where there is vast amount of good quality literature available to build curriculums.

In generalCriticalthinkingisnotjustmemorizingor

gathering information and knowledge. It is making logical and creative

connections to build upon these inputs to reach conclusions

on any issue or problem thatseizesthemind.

While readingReading a document and also thinking about every word or sentence therein is important. I have found first-hand that some near-geniuses are pretty slow readers, especially when it comes to stuff which are science/math/logic heavy. The reason is that they digest and think about every word they read and debate within their own minds about the subject matter. They ponder upon what the writer intends to say, whether there are biases in assumptions, whether the writer has considered contrary arguments, whether they agree with it, does it make sense etc.

While listeningThis involves deep and active engagement and focus on the speaker. It involves asking open-minded questions to gain insight by separating facts from assumptions, and arriving at one’s own conclusions on the subject.

First Principles ThinkingThis was pioneered by Aristotle over 2000 years ago. He defined a first principle as “the first basis from which a thing is known”. It is synonymous

with Elon Musk today. This requires breaking down everything you are trying to understand down to the basic fundamentals. All super achievers have a mastery over the basics. You may need to go only a few levels deeper than most others to get

the benefits out of this type of thinking


process. This can be taught in agricultural universities and colleges.

DECISION MAKING – FINANCIAL AND OTHERWISEWhen we were growing up, the world was pretty simple. Choices were limited. Today the youth and kids are bombarded with a huge plethora of choices. Academics tend to fall short for children in this area. Young students in agricultural colleges and universities need to be trained to use a basic version of decision tree analysis. This is essential to figure out decisions they need to take on their own for everything relating to their day-to-day routines and major ones like choice of education and career etc. Learning financial skills early as a subset of Decision Making is very important for youngsters. Lack of understanding budgets, financials and a spendthrift attitude may result in accumulation of unwarranted debt and financial burden in their future besides not building a basic skill of entrepreneurship. Not everyone can be a Warren Buffett who purchased his first stock at 11 and first plot of land (40 acres) when he was 15. Buffet did all kinds of odd jobs as a kid including that of selling soda crowns, newspaper delivery etc. There is a lot to learn from lives of such people.

Creating Problem Solving Generations through Agri EducationI found the Written Analysis and Communication course taught at IIM Ahmedabad useful, given its structured approach at situational analysis, problem definition, setting of objectives, criteria for evaluation of alternatives, generation of alternatives, decision on an alternative keeping in mind the objective and the criteria and a contingency plan in case the selected plan of action doesn’t work out. This is something which must be taught to youngsters in colleges with case studies of problem situations they are likely to be interested to analyzeand solve. The Kepner Tregoe method (KT-method) is a good problem analysis

model for problem solving which was developed in the 60s.We were trainedto use it in our jobs when I joined the corporate sector. The corporate sector also taught us stuff like Eliyahu Goldratts Theory of Constraints when we were into our mid-20s.

I am sure these frameworks can be all used in the context of colleges too. Methodologies for problem solving should become a compulsory part of the agriculture and allied sector education curriculum.

Creation of a tinkering culture in IndiaWhen I was young, I saw an interesting pattern in villages. Say a farmer was getting a bullock cart or plough or any other equipment made or repaired by the village carpenter or craftsman. During this time, the farmer would work as the assistant of the craftsman. Both the farmer and the craftsman would have a debate around what was the best solution to solve the problem at hand.

The same was the case when the farmer need some work to be done by the

tractor mechanic, the electrician and so on. The electrician would turn up on the farm to fix things with the electric motor or wiring, which the farmer wasn’t able to fix himself. The farmer would ask all these people questions as to what was the problem and how they intended to fix it. He would assist all these people in their work. The farmers have respect for those who work with their hands because they do the same. I found the curiosity of these simple rural folk highly admirable.

In our transition from rural societies to living in urban areas, we seem to have lost this curiosity for the work done by the working classes who provide technical services to the middle classes and above. In the western world when the parents fix things around the house, the children observe. In many cases the children assist their parents in this task, which enables learning and thinking. In the West, those in the middle class or above tend to have workshops at home. While

the parent indulges in largely technical work, the children are allowed to assist and learn. In one of his interviews to the media, Jeff Bezos credits beingresourceful and solving problems to the work that he did with his grandfather on hisranchinTexas.Bezoshasmentionedabout his grandfather being wise and resourceful enough to do most of the work on the ranch by himself. Bill Gates and Paul Allen spent time tinkering after school hours in their school lab. That resulted in Microsoft Corporation.

We need to bring this – the Western style tinkering culture – into our agricultural education. We also need to borrow from our own rural culture, which has engagement of our farmers with service providers. The agriculture education system needs have direct hands-on engagement with real world farmers so as to produce entrepreneurs, inventors and tinkerers from its students.

COMMUNICATIONBoth oral and written communication is an extremely critical and important skill. Collges must make special efforts to ensure that all their students are comfortable in speaking before small audiences and also in written communication. I find the younger lot a little challenged in terms of oral as well as written communication despite the plethora of tools at their disposal today. We were dependent on Wren & Martin for our art of crafting sentences that made grammatical sense. This area needs focused attention by colleges and universities.

the agriculture education system needs have direct hands-on engagement with real world farmers so as to produce entrepreneurs, inventors and tinkerers from its students

Prof (Col) Sanjay K Patil is Vice-Chancellor, Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur, Chhattisgarh. He is President of Indian Agricultural Universities Association, New Delhi. Prof Patil is the recipient of DST-BOYSCAST fellowship, ICARs-Fakhruddin Ali Ahmad Award, DACs-Recognition Award, Honorary Rank of Colonel Commandant, GOI National Award for e-governance, Board of Governors of ICFRE, and Lifetime Achievement Award by SCSI, New Delhi

aboutthe author

Agriculture educAtion must Address locAl, regionAl needsA

gricultural education in India has evolved over decades into a se-mester-based program. Course and curriculum is divided into sev-eral units spread over the span of

eight semesters in undergraduate (UG), four semesters in masters and six semesters in PhD program. It offers a variety of subjects to stu-dents and can be considered as one of the best systems of education in the country. However, the expectations of stakeholders have changed much faster in recent past than the changes in the agricultural education system.

Agricultural universities in our country were started to increase agricultural production, as technology was considered as a major con-tributor to increase output. Universities were involved in development of technologies of va-rieties, nutrient management, plant protection measures, soil and water conservation etc, and providing frontline extension to farmers. All the degree programs, the courses and curriculum were designed to suite this requirement and make students more inclined towards research and technology development. The agricultural universities have performed this task well. The masters and PhD programs are still very good.

UG program The UG program is focused on skill, extension, and entrepreneurship, and based by assigning two semesters of final year towards Student Ready and Experiential learning programs. However, the UG syllabus largely remains the same. As a result, most graduates still look for

Fount oF knowledGe

further higher education to get a job. Agriculture graduates face problems mainly due to lack of professional

skills. This is the main deterrent in taking up agriculture as profession and way of life after graduation. The present under graduate system imparts mostly theoretical knowledge. This is why agriculture graduates are not able to meet the social demand.

The UG program needs review and evolution. Social needs and demands are changing fast. More and quick innovations are needed to improve our abil-ity to match market/social demand. Agricultural universities must orient them-selves towards innovations, entrepreneurship and value creation.


Fount oF knowledGe

Population is increasing. Increase in production and productivity is required. Universities must develop new tech-nologies, which are required to address emerging problems of further enhancing production and productivity. Agricultural universities have largely met this man-date.

Challenges in the Agriculture SectorThe agricultural crisis has diverse dimen-sions. We need to increase production. There are challenges like increasing profitability, employment and income. We need to improve livelihood, address-ing sustainability, environmental secu-rity, safe and nutritious food production. Universities should respond to these challenges. They must facilitate agrarian transformation. Universities must diver-sify their role from production to post-production issues to enhance farmers’ income and employment.

How do we change our education system? How do we expose students to the real world so graduates respond to this social and economic need? This requires an integrated and multi-dimen-sional approach. Two major areas for in-tervention are at policy and institutional level. We need to redesign the course and curriculum.

Agriculture is art, science, technolo-gy, commerce and management. It must evolve as a business. This change is not adequately reflected in our UG courses and curriculum. We must address the perspective of income enhancement by

managing relevant technologies.The next green revolution will come

through agri-business entrepreneurships supported by varieties, innovations and technologies. We need graduates with a grip on both theory and practice. Uni-versities must design and continuously upgrade, revise and evolve their UG pro-gram, training, research and knowledge products as per the needs of the stake-holders.

Courses must address local, regional concerns Curriculum design should be more de-centralized.Morefreedomtouniversitiesup to a level of 50 pc should be given. There can be basic/ foundation courses common in all universities, designed by a Dean’s committee. Fifty pc courses should be as per local needs, designed by universities. Curriculum should ad-dress local and regional challenges. Stu-

UG students should work with farmers for sufficiently

longer period of time. Courses should be designed

as per local and regional needs. One student can be attached with one farmer during the entire degree

programme

dents must be exposed to local and re-gional systems in addition to global and national systems.

The pedagogy of UG education needs a change. A way of teaching that enhances learning and develops skill of profession may be adopted. Students should work with farmers for sufficiently longer period of time, or on their own farms. This can help in modernizingthese farms. A two year campus (theory + campus practical) and two year farm work with farmers may be adopted. For campus teaching, basic courses (50 pc common courses; 2+1 type) may be of-fered. Courses designed as per local needs may be offered along with farm at-tachment (0+2 type).

In 0+2 type courses, the student should be taught to work with farmers and learn farming. One student can be attached with one farmer during the en-tire degree programme, or in last two years where (0+2) type courses can be offered. The present course load may appropriately be reduced for adoption of such system.

Quality education meets the require-ments of all stakeholders now and in the future – students, parents, employ-ers, funding agencies, government and society. It provides learners with capa-bilities they require to become economi-cally productive, develop sustainable livelihoods, contribute to peaceful and democratic societies and enhance indi-vidual well-being. Universities must fulfil these aspirations and expectations of beneficiaries.



Startup Support

AGri uNivErSiTy iNiTiATivE SMArT FArMiNG ANd entrePreneurshIP develoPment

about the authorS

Dr Praveen Rao Velchala is the founder Vice Chancellor of Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad, since 2016. He served in Israel for five years and is a prominent contributor to micro-irrigation, precision farming and digital agro-knowledge management. His professional commitment has won him several accolades, prominently the 7th M.S.Swamianthan Award, Best Vice Chancellor Award, Leader with Strategic Vision and Education Leadership Award etc. Dr Rao is an active member of several national and international professional bodies and leading several technical policy making think tank bodies in ICAR and TelanganaR. Kalpana Sastry is Managing Director, AgHub Foundation, PJTSAU, Hyderabad

Agri-tech involves a broad array of technologies, including drones, satellite photography and sensors, IoT-based sensor

networks, phase tracking, weather forecasts, automated irrigation, light control, and heat control, intelligent software analysis for pest and disease prediction, soil management and other involved analytical tasks, and biotech. Multiple agritech startups are foraying into the sector offering innovative and personalised solutions at affordable costs to tackle various challenges in the agricultural value chain.

The Emergence of Incubation Platforms The Start-up India initiative has indeed contributed to the growing numbers of incubators/ accelerators in the country. Except for pioneers like ABD at TNAU, Coimbatore or MABIF at Madurai or ABI at CCSHAU, the overall numbers across more than 71 agricultural universities in the country are very low. The rapidly developing agri-entrepreneurship ecosystem brings a huge opportunity for building entrepreneurial ecosystem in these universities to motivate and inspire young agri-graduates and post-



Startup Support

graduates onto entrepreneur-laden career pathway.

Good ideas alone will not deliver new products or practices that transform agri innovations. Managing the innovation process is crucial because disruptive innovation requires different mind-sets and approaches. With uncertainties as a constant element of the agri-food ecosystem, any translation of ideas across the value chain needs higher level of collaborations and a consistent engagement with all stakeholders including farmers, FPOs and even policy makers.

Creating an Innovation Ecosystem Against this background, the Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agriculture University (PJTSAU) has created a Special Purpose Vehicle named AgHub Foundation (branded as AgHub), a Section-8 Company, to promoteinnovation and entrepreneurship in Agriculture. AgHub is a first of its kind incubation Centre, which operates in a Hub and Spoke model. The model has the Innovation Hub housed in the University with its rural spokes at the Tier2 and Tier3 cities of the state.

While the hub supports Agritech start-ups through Innovation-Incubation-Acceleration of the start-ups PAN India, the rural innovation centres of the AgHub cater for the promotion of rural entrepreneurship for building Agribusiness enterprises promoted by rural youth, women, farmers and FPOs etc.

The AgHub focus is on producing

entrepreneurs from a wide range of backgrounds: Rural vs Urban,startups vs enterprises, experienced entrepreneurs vs student entrepreneurs, with a special focus on women entrepreneurship. It aims at creating a congenial ecosystem for promotion of a wide range of agri-tech start-ups and also agri-centric enterprises. One of the key areas of focus of the AgHub would be in the development and promotion of entrepreneurship ecosystem in the university, the state of Telangana and also to scale up agri tech startups in the global arena.

As an incubator, AgHub leverages PJTSAU’s ecosystem of research, education and extension institutions to build innovation and entrepreneurship among start-ups, entrepreneurs, young agri graduates and post graduates along with promotion of rural entrepreneurship. The proactive efforts of Telangana government’s innovation

policy across all the sectors and its focused agri-innovation initiatives on the likes of Artificial Intelligence for Agricultural Innovation (AI4AI) programme to boost agricultural developments add further fillip to the agri start up and rural entrepreneurial ecosystem to grow and nurture at AgHub of PJTSAU.

New Initiatives Realizing the need for promotion andpiloting of grass root innovation and to ensure dissemination of the innovations at the grass root level, AgHub has recently launched a flagship program called Agritech Innovation Pilots (AIP). This is a first- of- its kind Innovation Program to enable soft landing or piloting of innovations of the Agritech start up to the farmers/ FPOs. This ensures last mile delivery of innovations at the grass root level.

AgHub at PJTSAU plans to expand its operations and build innovative technology-based start-ups at its Innovation Hub and fuel rural entrepreneurship in its innovation spokes. It shall focus on creating a platform for more peer-to-peer learning among all stakeholders including farmers and FPOs with continuous mentoring to navigate through the fragmented agri-technology landscape. AgHub at PJTSAU hopes to build an inspiring ecosystem and catalyse agri innovation for win-win for both farmers and technology developers, triggering successful agri-entrepreneurship climate across the landscape.

Building Soft Landing Platform for a ‘Farmer-Scientist- Agritech Start-up Convergence’- AIP Programme at AgHub, PJTSAU.Photo credits: X Machines and TraceX technologies -Awardees in First Cohort of AIP, AgHub, PJTSAU

Dr Rao uses his leisure to keep physically fit through walking and

pranayama, and mentally agile through reading. Vegetable and

fruit gardening at his residence and visiting farmers’ fields and orchards are other stress-busters for him. He

enjoys mentoring young agronomists


Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University Administrative Office, Lam, Guntur, Andhra Pradesh - 522 034

Ph. No: 0863-2347101 | 80089 43336 e-mail ID: [email protected];

website: www.angrau.ac.in

AdvertoriAl

The ANGRAU established on 12th June of 1964 is serving the new state Andhra Pradesh with renewed interest and dedication, quality education, research and extension.

MANDATE oF ThE UNivERSiTy• Train the manpower in Agriculture,Agricultural Engineering & Technology and Home Science for the development of the state (Teaching).• Constantly generate and improvetechnologies for increasing production in Agriculture and for the welfare of rural folk (Research).•Assistindisseminationoftheimprovedtechnologies to the farmers of the state through development departments of Government (Extension).

collEGESconstituent colleges: Agriculture (5), Agril. Engg. (2), CFST (2), Community Science (1), APGC (1), IABM (1), Affiliated colleges:Agricultural Colleges (6) constituent Polytechnics: Agril. (15), Agril. Engg. (2), Organic Farming (1), Seed Technology (1) Affiliated Polytechnics: Agril. (53), Seed Technology (11), Organic Farming (3), Agril. Engg. (16)

coURSES oFFEREDUnder Graduation:

• B.Sc. (Hons.) (Agri.) • B.Tech. (Agril.Engg.)•B.Tech.(FoodTechnology)•B.Sc.(Hons.) Community Science

Post Graduation:

• M.Sc. (Agri.) • M.Sc. (Agri. BusinessManagement) • M.Tech. (Agril.Engineering)•M.Sc.(HomeScience)

Doctoral:

• Ph.D. (Agri.) • Ph.D. (AgriculturalEngineering&Technology)•Ph.D.(HomeScience)

Diploma:

• Diploma (Agricultural Polytechnic) •Diploma (Seed Technology Polytechnic) • Diploma (Agricultural EngineeringPolytechnic)•Diploma(OrganicFarming)

oUR cAMPUSES ARE EqUiPPED wiTho Virtual and interactive class rooms / smart classrooms o Wi-Fi connectivityo Campus surveillance with CC cameraso Individual labs and Central Instrumentation facilitieso Indoor and outdoor games facilities o Digital Librarieso Good housing facilities o Well-developed research farms o Good medical facilities

NEw iNiTiATivES•StudentREADYProgramme

o RAWE Programmeo Experiential Learning o In-Plant Training (Internship)

•Personalityenhancement&SoftSkills•Innovativethinkingandresearchskills

o AGRI CARNIVAL o Annual Post Graduate Student Conference

• Capacity building – Global awarenessthrough Institutional Development Plan (IDP) under National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP)•OpenandDistanceLearningCentre(ODLC)•AgricosGreenprogramme•SportsandExtra-curricularactivities

AchiEvEMENTS

JRF - 173 seats (Agriculture)

GATE - 28 seats(Agri-Engineering)

ANGRAU ranked as per ICAR Ranking of

Agricultural Universities for 2019

Integrated Administrative Building of ANGRAU

13


B.Sc. (Hons) Agriculture 60B.Sc. (Hons) Horticulture 30

30

M.Sc. Agriculture (Agronomy) 04M.Sc. Agriculture (Plant Breeding & Genetics) M.Sc. Agriculture (Plant Pathology) M.Sc. Agriculture (Soil Science & Agril. Chemistry) M.Sc. Agriculture (Entomology) M.Sc. Horticulture (Fruit Science) M.Sc. Horticulture (Vegetable Science)

B.Sc. (Hons) Forestry

POSTGRADUATE

04040404020202

thRani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University (RLBCAU) was established in the Bundelkhand region of India on 5 March, 2014 by an Act of Parliament for the development of agriculture through advanced teaching, research and extension in agriculture and allied sciences. RLBCAU has adopted a combined approach to strengthen agricultural research, education and extension activities with an ultimate aim to increase and stabilize agricultural production in the country with an emphasis on the Bundelkhand region. Being the first Agricultural University of the nation established as an Institution of National Importance, manpower development activities of the University are supported for creating skillful and professional youth to meet the future global challenges and also sound implementation of research programmes in emerging areas.

Act as a ‘Center of Excellence’ in education with social commitment by integrating modern, scientific and technological knowledge, skills with the basic human ethos and valuesSet forth a model in teaching, research and personality development, entrepreneurial and scholastic abilities for achieving required growth in agriculture and allied sectorsImprove farmers’ income and sustain food and nutritional security through outreach programmes by integrating cutting-edge technologiesPromote multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional approach through partnerships and linkages with national and international institutions of repute

Goals: Seat MatrixUNDERGRADUATE

M.Sc. Forestry (Silviculture & Agroforestry)

Admissions in all degree programmes through ICAR-All India Entrance Examination conducted by the National Testing AgencyImplementation of Student READY programme comprising of Rural Appraisal Work Experience (RAWE) with village placement, Experiential Learning and Industrial attachment to expose them to rural environment and develop entrepreneurship skillsCelebration of core national events including NSS, Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, and more than 30 National Days of prominence.Mentoring by leading academicians by organising ‘Atal Jai Vigyan’ lecture seriesParticipation of students in All India Agri-Unisports, Agri-Unifests and other extra-curricular activities

Academic Activities

State of the art Facilities

The Academic and Administrative buildings are energy efficient (using roof top solar panels, occupancy based lights in toilets,

use of LED lights and solar street lights, water efficient (rain water harvesting, sensor based urinals and pillar cocks),

environment friendly (use of fly ash bricks), waste reduction (having sewage treatment plant and use of treated water with safe

disposal of laboratory wastes. The building has double unit glasses and natural stone facade - for energy efficient centralized

air conditioning and maintenance free exteriors and integrated building for easy access. The Academic building has 22

SMART Classrooms, 23 well-established centralized laboratories, two seminar rooms and 2 multipurpose halls with

centralized RO water facilities including in Boys and Girls Hostel and Administrative Block. Buildings are provided with 100%

Power Back-Up with UPS supply for IT equipment. WI-FI Connectivity enabled in all buildings including staff quarters. Also,

provided with Control system, CCTV, internet firewall, fire alarm and firefighting with PA system. These buildings were

inaugurated by Hon'ble Prime Minister of India on 29 August, 2020 and are unique amongst the National Agricultural Research

System in the country.

RANI LAKSHMI BAI CENTRAL AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, JHANSI


The strength of a society is dependent on collective vi-tality and wellbeing of the people. Youth population contributes major strength

of the society. However, majority of rural youth lack focus, ambition and self-con-fidence and lack mentorship unlike ur-ban youth. Education, employment and financial freedom are the major ways through which self-confidence can be at-tained.Inspiteof65%literacyamongtheyouth, the number of unemployment is in the rise. There are many factors, which can be attributed for this negative growth rate particularly in agriculture and rural jobs.

To develop self-confidence, self-employment is the best source. Hence, confidence building exercise will serve as the key. Education and training needs to be practical and innovative. We, at MSSRF, propose to organize a mix ofyouth clubs, youth sport clubs, exhibi-tions, youth summits though schemes to promote self-employment ( micro enter-prises), participatory research and field demonstration, inculcate the habit of sav-ing and introduce internal credit system through self help groups and training on skill enhancement, workshop on knowl-edge in agriculture and horticulture will be imparted.

Agriculture as the engine of job-led growthRecent media reports suggest that in-creasing demands for reservation in the public sector may be linked to the stag-nation of agriculture and growing agrar-ian distress. Agriculture promotes job-led growth, if there is integrated attention to on-farm and non-farm employment in rural areas. The National Commission on Farmers has made detailed recom-mendation on how to serve farmers and thereby save farming. Even in the Punjab nearly80%offarmersdonotwanttheirsons to be agriculturists. The immediate implementation of NCF recommenda-tions in their totality will help. Meanwhile, to minimise the incidence of farmers’ suicides, there is need for establishing Agrarian Distress Counselling Centres wherever feasible in Krishi Vigyan Ken-dras.

Organic Agriculture : Pathways to SuccessOur Prime Minister in his recent address in Sikkim has advocated the adoption of organic farming methods throughout the country. This will ensure the envi-ronmental sustainability of agriculture and there-by help to achieve Goal

SpeCial Feature

EMpowErMEnt EMployMEnt

for Sustainable Development

Youth &

Dr N. Parasuraman is Principal Scientist, Sustainable Development, MS Swaminathan Research Foundation. He had been Indian ambassador of the World Youth Bank since 2003 and is Coordinating Chairperson of Youth Science Congress. He is the member of International Sustainable Development Center, Geneva

about the author



2 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (“End hunger, achieve food secu-rity and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”). Several steps are needed to make organic farming eco-nomically viable particularly for small and marginal farmers. Most of the farmers of our country have small holdings and may have only one or two farm animals like cows and buffaloes. Therefore, it is es-sential they have an integrated nutrient supply strategy based on the available organic sources of manure and biologi-cal nitrogen fixation. The other aspect of organic farming is plant protection using biological control methods and the use of pesticides of plant origin. Finally, there is need for providing a premium price tak-ing into account the long term benefits to the nation. Integrated nutrient supply, integrated pest management and remu-nerative pricing and marketing are the three pillars of successful organic farm-ing. Farmers should become familiar with organic certification procedures, thereby spreading knowledge of successful mar-keting strategies

Inclusion of UN SDG “Sustainable Agriculture” in educational curriculumThe initiative of the Avittam Thirunal Gov-ernment Vocational Higher Secondary School, Moncompu is a path-breaking adventure in education for sustainable agriculture. This school provides courses in different areas of agriculture which are designed to promote training which will help to achieve SDG Goal No.2. A sus-tainable agriculture course will be intro-duced at the 10 +2 level. The school is located at the Kuttanad region of Kerala which has been designated by FAO as a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Site. The additional facilities including new laboratories for soil and plant health were constructed at a cost of Rs. 57 lakhs provided from my MPLAD funds. I hope this will be an example for other schools located in agriculturally important areas, so that sustainable agriculture becomes the norm in Rural India.

ICT and AgricultureFarming is an important part of Indian economy and it involves a wide range of stakeholders, of whom the small holder farmers are the largest group. Information sharing on new production processes with the farmers was prominent in the ‘sixties which was the key to the success of the Green Revolution. Apicultural ex-tension, the process of enabling farmers and experts to exchange information with each other, has been institutionalised by now to a high degree and is assessed to be not as effective as it had been genera-tion back. The advent of digital, technolo-gy-mediated information and knowledge management was thought to offer sig-nificant new opportunities for Indian farm-

SpeCial Feature

Dr Parasuraman has been consistently engaged with the issues of youth development,

agriculture and environment. For 32 years, he has been running the Free Night School for Poor

Children in Chennai as part of the Urban Slum education program

ing as a whole. These hopes led to the launching of a host of initiatives in differ-ent parts of India, which has emerged as the host of the largest number of rural de-velopment projects where contemporary information and communication technol-ogy play a pivotal role.While analyzingthe outputs of such initiatives, many stud-ies have pointed out that farming is not a priority concern of most them. On the other hand, we can notice a non-compli-mentary strand of ICT in agriculture proj-ects operated by a number of institutions with ICT resources playing a key role in some them.

What we know have is a collection of project activities that are fragmented in their overall understanding and ap-proaches. What we need is an approach that can bring together the two strands, namely, of ICT in rural development and ICT in agriculture. Such an effort, howev-er, needs a new IT architecture to be built for aggregation of content and to make services available in multiple modes. Two groups of projects in India, namely, the Agropedia and the KISSAN-Kerala, have built larges prototypes and human capacities using unprecedented innova-tions in web technology areas and have been able to link these up with different modes of delivery including mobile tele-phony. With their advent, a wider range of solutions to the challenge of developing a novel architecture for information services for farming in India are now feasible and need to be researched upon.


driVinG Growth

needs more youth

Agri Education

In order to sustain, diversify and realize the potential of agriculturesectors, it is necessary to develop skilled human resources. Agricultural human resource development is

a continuous process undertaken by agricultural institutions and universities that impart education in various disciplines viz.,Agriculture,AgriculturalEngineering,Forestry, Horticulture, Veterinary and Animal Husbandry, Dairy Science, Soil Science, Plant Breeding & Genetics, Seed Technology, Plant Pathology and Disease Management, Soil Science and Biochemistry, Crop Physiology, Genetic Engineering & Crop Improvement, Tissue Culture, Agricultural Biotechnology, Food Technology, Food Processing, Fisheries, Piggeries, Poultry, Goateries, Agricultural

Information Technology and Agri-business Management etc. It imparts education at the level of diploma, degree, masters and doctoral level.

The history of agricultural education in India can be traced back to medieval period when agriculture was included in the curricula of Nalanda and Takshashila Universities as an important subject. Formalized courses in agriculturaleducation began at the beginning of 20th century when six agricultural colleges were established at Kanpur, Lyalpur (now in Pakistan), Coimbatore and Nagpur in 1905, at Pune in 1907 and at Sabour in 1908underthegeneraluniversities.

At present, there are 73 Agricultural Universities (AUs) including five deemed-to-be universities, two Central Agricultural Universities and four Central Universities with agriculture faculty. The intake capacity

of students has increased from meager 5,000 in 1960 to more than 45,000in 2020. With about 350 constituent colleges, these AUs enroll about 25,000 students at UG level, over 15,000 at Masters’ level and Ph.D. programmes annually. In addition, there are many private affiliated colleges enrolling thousands of students annually. There are about 23,000 scientists for teaching, research and extension services under the present ICAR-Agricultural Universities (AUs) system. Degree courses in 11 UG disciplines and 93 disciplines at PG level are offered with an emphasis on learning through hands-on practice sessions. About 52 pc students admitted are from ruralbackgroundand36pcaregirls.

Emerging challenges in agriculture sectorPresently, agriculture faces many challenges. These include (i) Low


driVinG Growth

productivity (averaging to 60 pcof world average), (ii) Decreasing profitability in farming, (iii) Rising quality competitiveness under pressure of globalization, (iv) Poor linkage of farmswith market, (v) Poor knowledge of input agriculture, (vi) Wide gap between lab and land experiments, (vii) Low level of mechanization and value addition (viii)Supply chain management and product life-cycle management, (xi) Lack of qualified manpower to address the new and emerging challenges and deliver at grassroots level, (x) Mounting threat to sustainability arising from depleting quality of natural resources (xi) Biotic and abiotic stresses and inefficient use of agro-inputs (xii) Decreasing soil fertility (xiii) Organic farming and certification (xiv) Climate change (xv) Reducing cultivable land area and (xvi) Poorly coordinated natural disaster management system etc.

To properly address these challenges, competent and adequate human resources are required. To achieve this, a renewed thrust for higher agriculture education is necessary with enhanced financial support to the ICAR-AU system. Estimates suggest that by 2022, more than 25,000 scientific personnel would be required to cater to the R&D needs in the country. At present, there is substantial gap of more than 50 pc or more between demand and supply of manpower in agriculture and allied sciences sector.

Projections indicate that by 2022, the annual number of students required for graduation in agriculture and above would be about 75,000, as against the presentannualnumberofaround60,000.This means that sincere efforts are required to attract more students towards higher agricultural education. There is vast scope for young graduates to undertake agriculture as their profession which directly or indirectly contributes to the economic and social development of the country.

Recently, Indian Council of AgricultureResearch(ICAR)recognizedBSc Agriculture in different SAUs as a professional degree. Nine courses

have been granted the recognition of professional degrees, namely Agriculture, Horticulture, Agriculture Engineering, Sericulture, Forestry, Food Technology, Biotechnology, Home or Community Science, Food Nutrition and Dietetics. The Fifth Deans Committee report gave the terms of reference, considering contemporary challenges for employability of passing out graduates and to adopt a holistic approach for quality assurance in agricultural education.

The Committee has restructured course curricula and has reoriented the

Dr Amar P. Garg is Vice Chancellor, Shobhit Institute of Engineering & Technology (Deemed to-be-University), Meerut. Dr Garg is CAS Fellow (UK) and DAAD Fellow (Germany). He is Recipient of Young Scientist Gold Medal of IBS (1993); Prof. Hiralal Chakravarty Award of Indian Science Congress Association (1994) and Sectional President-Environmental Science (2020-21) 108 Indian Science Congress

system to develop desired skills and entrepreneurial mindset among the graduates to take up self-employment, contribute to enhanced rural livelihood and food security, sustainability of agriculture and be propellers for agricultural transformation. The professional degree status provides huge benefits for students such as enhanced rate of fellowship from DBT, DST, ICAR and other funding agencies. This will lead to higher admission for agriculture courses.

Career Scope of Agricultural Science & Technology

The Indian government is backing up the agriculture sector very strongly. This is evident from the Union Budget of 2020-21 and the three Agricultural bills brought by the Government last year to improve farmer’s income.

Agricultural science involves research and development on production, processing, productivity of crops and end products for consumers. To achieve these objectives, agricultural education is essential. Farmers are agitating on the three new farm laws, but their protest is unnecessary. If they are not satisfied with the laws, they may not enter into a contract with the firms.

Recently, ICAR recognized BSc Agriculture in different

SAUs as a professional degree. Nine courses have been granted the recognition of professional degrees, namely Agriculture,

Horticulture, Agriculture Engineering, Sericulture, Forestry, Food Technology, Biotechnology, Home or Community Science, Food Nutrition and Dietetics

Dr Rajendra Prasad central Agricultural University, Pusa is producing exemplary human resources and providing the leadership in Teaching, Research, and Extension related to agriculture and allied sciences under our visionary Vice-Chancellor - Dr. R.C. Srivastava. It achieves the same by:• Promoting a high-quality learningenvironment and the creation of an integrated approach that develops an appreciation and understanding of the environmental and socio-economic significance of soil-plant-animal- people interface.• Shaping agricultural stakeholders intoself-sustaining mode through innovation-centric education, cutting edge research, entrepreneurship/ startup skill development, and dissemination of appropriate agricultural technology.•Nurturingnational/globalneedsofachievingsustainable food production and safety while mitigating pressure on agricultural land through advanced interventions of research and development.

PROUD MOMENT •ThehonorablePrimeMinister of India SriNarendra Modiji has inaugurated the new building of “School of Agribusiness & Rural management” and also laid the foundation stone of new facilities- hostels, International Guest house etc. on 10thSeptember 2020.• The University has the honour to find aplace under top ten best among Government University of the country by India Today- MDRA survey,2020... •TheKnowledgereviewmagazineplacedthisUniversity among Top 10 Best Institutions in North India in the Year, 2020.• Nominated as Finalist of Green Universityof Asia Pacific region award- 2020 by Accreditation Council for Entrepreneurial and Engaged Universities.

An Environment Promoting GrowthIt follows an Integrated System of Education comprising Teaching, Research, and Extension and advisory systems which is quite different

from any other university.Its Under-Graduation degrees are four years technical and professional courses as compared to three years degree at general Universities which includes STUDENT READY (Rural Entrepreneurship Awareness Development Yojana) program for one year in which students are attached to a particular village for identification of the farming problem; industry attachment; and business proposal development. The University also has an active placement cell. Starting from grooming to placing students in good agro-based companies, the placement cell under the University helps its students at every step of their growth. Many students choose to go for higher studies and prepare for civil services, Bank, Agricultural Research Service, and other reputed jobs in the country and abroad.

EDUCATION:The University has total intake capacity of 319 students in 6 disciplines of UG Programme, 286 students in 26 disciplines of PG Programme and 38 students in 13-disciplines of Ph.D. programme. The academic Programme of the University was shifted to online mode from the last week of March, 2020 to cope up with pandemic of COVID-19. Every effort was made to protect the interest of students . The study materials related to ongoing courses were uploaded on the university website for access by the students. The classes, examination and evaluations were conducted online using digital platform- google meet, email, whatsapps etc. To enhance the visibility of the University, the provision has been made for admission of In-service students, overseas students and Industry sponsored students

ExTENSION:The university is actively engaged in enhancing the livelihood of farming community by transferring technology through its adequate infrastructure and efficient system for dissemination of technology through Directorate of Extension Education, Agriculture information Technology Centre (ATIC) and Agro advisory service at headquarter level and 16 KVKs at different districts under jurisdiction of the university.Social Responsibilities• Initiated training programme at various

KVKs under the PM Garib Kalyan Yojna to poor and large number of migrant labourers•Awareness programme through phone call,SMS, whatsapp group, leaflets, posters for Dos and don’ts regarding COVID-19.• Shared RTPCRmachinewith Shri KrishnaMedical College, Muzaffarpur for the test of COVID-19.•DistributionofBalShakti-500kgstonearbyslums.• Distribution of hermetic bags for storageof wheat- 4000 bags to 1000 resource poor famers.• Fabrication anddistribution ofmask to theCOVID-19 warriors, vegetable vendors and policemen.

ENVIRONMENTAL SAFEGUARD INITIATIVEUniversity has developed very efficient system for making the campus environment free of pollution through the following activities• Conversion of house hold waste and farmwaste into vermi compost and other value added products with a generation of revenue of 16 lakh per year.•Utilizationofsolarenergyforvariousactivitiesin campus as well in the farm activities through 25 installed solar tree/roof top solar system resulted saving of a sizable proportion of energy consumption.•Developedamodelofmanagementof floraloffering temples into vermi-compost and initiated with Baidyanath Dham temple, Deoghar (Jharkhand) and Garibnath temple, Muzaffarpur (Bihar)•BoatMountedSolarbasedPump,developedby the University, has been selected under RAFTAR Project and assistance of 25 lakhs is given by MANAGE to the prospective entrepreneurs.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University

AdvertoriAl

Dr Rajendra Prasad central Agricultural University (Pusa, Bihar) is an institute of National Importance which is marching ahead with its vision of Advancing professional competency for pursuing excellence in education, research and entrepreneurship in relation to agriculture and allied sectors with ethical values to meet the regional, national and global needs and offering specialized services to the farmers for decent livelihood.

Dr. R.C. SrivastavaVice-Chancellor


ROlE Of ANIMAl HealTH educaTiOn

Animal Husbandry is an economic enterprise. It is considered as survival enterprise for millions in India. The majority of the

world’s poor live in rural areas. Around 70 pc of them are directly dependent on animal keeping for their survival. In India, 85% livestock keepers aresmall and marginal farmers having less than 2 hectare of land, operating 44% of land for crop cultivation and contributingmorethan69%incountrymilk production. Future of sustainable agriculture growth and food security in India depends on the performance of small and marginal farmers. It gives employment to large population of un-skilled youth.

Livestock contributes 4% to the GDP. In near future, this may be al-most doubled, and can be achieved if the livestock sector will show sustain-able growth. It is essential to educate the rural youth and women about the animal health programme at the door step of the farmers. Animal health edu-cation plays an important role in ani-

mal husbandry management, skill in animal rearing practices and attitude towards new technology. This can in-crease per animal milk production.

Animal health deserves our atten-tion for poverty elimination. If a farmer loses up to a fifth of their livestock due to diseases, it pushes him deeper into poverty. But animal health is far from being a main concern in development cooperation. The fact is that animal health is related to human health, both directly and indirectly. Poor ani-mal productivity is a driver of poverty and ill-health for families depending on livestock.

Livestock farmers in India face challenges of limited feed resources, lack of knowledge and inferior genetic makeupof a sizeablenumberof bo-vines. Poor animal health can further reduce productivity. The absence of adequate knowledge on animal health put farmers to a great loss in terms of treatment and mortality. They are un-aware about various preventive mea-sures to reduce diseases transmission of infectious diseases.

rural deVelopment

about the author

Prof GK Singh is Vice Chancellor, Pt. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Pashu Chikitsa Vigyan Vishwavidyalaya Evam Go Anusandhan Sansthan, Mathura


GOI started the main impetus of Na-tional Dairy Plan (NDP) to increase the productivity of dairy animals through im-proving genetics, AI and scientific feed-ing practices with better health care and appropriate disease control programmes.

Preventive Measures to reduce disease incidences Isolation: Segregation of animals which are known to be or suspected/affected with contagious disease, from apparently healthy animals.

Quarantine: Quarantine is the seg-regation of apparently healthy animals or newly purchased animals which have been exposed to the risk of infection from those animals which are healthy and un-exposed to the risk of infection.

Prompt disposal of carcass: Prop-er disposal of carcass of animals died due to contagious diseases is of utmost importance in preventing the spread of diseases. This may be done by burial or incineration methods.

Hygiene and Sanitation: Basic prin-ciples of hygiene and sanitation in ani-mal housing and surroundings are vital. These ensure animal health and high production.

Disinfection: Act of destroying the cause of infection is termed as disinfec-tion.

Deworming: Killing of internal para-sites by using anthelmentic drugs is called deworming. It reduces worm load and improves animal health.

Dipping and Spraying: It is prac-ticed to remove ectoparasites from ani-mal body by using ectoparasiticidal drugs or chemicals.

Vaccination: This builds animal im-munity against specific infectious dis-eases. The animal should be vaccinated against FMD, HS, B.Q., T.B., Anthrax, Pox, PPR and enterotoxaemia etc.

Bio-security: Adopt strict biosecurity measures to reduce the incidence of dis-eases in animal farm.

Awareness programmeDeveloping public awareness will become

an increasingly important intervention for national animal-health services. An es-sential component for the success of any major livestock-disease control or eradi-cation effort is an effective, broad-based public awareness programme. These mayincludethefollowing:• Planning, coordinationand im-

plementation of national disease-control programmes• Adopting various preventive

measures to reduce disease incidences in animals.• Diseasesurveillanceandother

early warning measures, epidemiologi-cal analysis, disease reporting at national and international level.• Close liaison with farmer

groups and private-sector animal-health

services.• Providing an enabling legisla-

tive framework about animal health• MasseducationFor any successful programme, there

is need of educating people to achieve theirparticipationby:

* Celebration of Animal health week every year.

* Publicity through media and film shows.

* Holding exposure visits, essay com-petitions, lectures, seminars, etc.*OrganizationofPashupalanGosthis

and animal Health camps.* Publication and distribution of ani-

malhealthmagazine.* Promulgation of laws about the ani-

mal health and welfare.Animal production, particularly in the

dairy sector, is important for food and nutritional well being of rural communi-ties. Investments in animal health sys-tems thus form the basis for a productive and resilient livestock sector. Enhanced animal health will directly improve the livelihood and welfare of resource-poor livestock keepers, many of whom are women. It also provides growing urban populations with more affordable highly nutritious animal source foods. There is immenseneedoforganizationofaware-ness programmes about animal health to improve the socio-economic condition of farmers as well as for food security.

rural deVelopment

Animal health education plays an important role in animal husbandry management, skill in

animal rearing practices and attitude towards

new technology. This can increase per animal milk

production



the chAnging dYnAMicS

The world has finally recognised the importance of the food and agri-business industry, during the pandemic. Globally, new

ways are being explored to ensure food security for mankind.

Humankind is expected to grow to almost 10 billion by 2050, demanding innovative food processing techniques and agriculture production. Decline in the share of agriculture in total production and organized employmentis taking place, albeit at different speeds. This poses diverse challenges across regions. In a country like India, the food processing and agricultural sector plays a vital role in contributing to the GDP. Our country depends on agriculture. It must have a dynamic, innovative and skilled manpower.

We need dedicated institutions of

induStry ready

AGRi-Biz EducAtioN


global repute in the field of agribusiness management, research, education, business modelling and knowledge creation. We need institutes that can generate the best talent pool as per industry needs, and reshape their career in the field of food and agribusiness.

Objectives The dynamics of the agri-business sector is changing fast. We need educators with the following objectives who can bring about significant impact in agri-bizeducation:

• Groom,nurtureanddevelopyoungtalentintocompetent,confidentandprofessionalagri-bizmanagers.Theymustbeabletoinculcate the knowledge, skills and attitudinal gaps through rigorous classroom exercises, training sessions, live projects, field works and industrial exposures.• Providehigh-classeducation facility to students inorder

to equip them in making big careers in food, agribusiness and rural marketing areas.• Help acquire and promote knowledge through market-

orientedand location-specificresearchwork in theagri-bizsectorand business modeling in the relevant fields, and to disseminate such knowledge through publications, seminars, and conferences.• Helpenhancedecision-makingskillsandthemanagement

competence of the stakeholders in food, agri and rural business professionals through regular courses, training programs, certificate and distance learning courses and management development programs.

The industry has started demanding specific set of skills for agribusiness professionals who can perform as per its changing needs. These include the following.• Leadershipinfoodandagri-businessfirms• Strategicbusinessanalyticswithdecisionmaking• Criticalthinkingandproblemsolving• Emergingperspectivesinfoodandagri-businessThese are the most sought-after skill-sets for industry

professionals. They can help the professionals achieve multi-fold jumps in their career ladder.

We are in the era of precision farming, safe food movements, disruptive innovations and digital agriculture. In today’s challenging market and technological environment, learning of advanced management concepts and soft skills, business ethics and industry oriented training becomes a critical success factor.

There is immense growth potential for professionals working in the Agri-Inputs Sector, Micro Finance, Priority Sector Lending, Agro-Marketing, Agro-Supply Chain and Logistics, Organic Food, Food Processing, Dairy, Poultry, Animal Health, Forestry, Fishery, FMCG, Plantation, Development Sector and the like. Professionals in these sectors must enhance their managerial capacity for leading abiggerteam,makingcriticaldecisionsandmaximizingtheprofitoftheorganizationbyinculcatingthebasicconceptsoffoodandagri-business management.

Mr Saurabh K Pandey has more than 12 years of professional experience in policy making, strategic management, education and skill development

about the author

induStry ready

I love to watch funny videos and listen to soft instrumental

music. My favourite stress-buster is to talk to my kid, who is my

addiction now-a-days


RAJMAtA VIJAYARAJE SCINDIA KRISHI VISHWA VIDYAlAYA, GWAlIOR (M. P.)Affiliation: IndianCouncilofAgricultureResearch,NewDelhiWebsite : www.rvskvv.netAddress : RajaPanchamSinghMarg,Gwalior-474002(M.P.)IndiaPhone : 0751-2970502,Fax:0751-2970504E-mail : [email protected]@rvskvv.net

Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Krishi Vishwa Vidyalaya(Established in 2008)

ISO 9001-2008Life time International Accreditation Organization (IAO) awarded

The University represents a well knit and action oriented network of research and education centres operating in agriculture and allied fields in Madhya Pradesh with Four College of Agriculture, one College of Horticulture, 22 Krishi Vigyan Kendra, 5 Zonal Agriculture Research Station

Research/Extension • 52 Crop varieties developed • Largest National producer of Breeder Seed• National Award for Best Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Jhabua and Datia• 11 ICAR awards to KVK and Scientists

Infrastructure:• State of Art University Library and Constituents Colleges Library.• State of Art Smart Class room• State of art Bio-Technology centre• Well equipped and furnished Boys and Girls Hostel • Placement Cell

Courses Offered o Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (Hons.)o Bachelor of Sciences in Horticulture (Hons.)o Dual Degree programme with Dalhousie University, Canada

• Master of Science in Agriculture [M.Sc. (Ag.)] in 11 disciplines• Master of Science in Horticulture [M.Sc. (Hort.)] in 4 disciplines• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in 9 disciplines

Centre of Excellence Ravine management Organic cottonKadaknath Honey beeClimate Change Apiculture

Entrepreneurship Development • Agri-business Incubation Centre• World Bank & ICAR funded NAHEP• 19 Experiential Learning Units



india eduCation awardS 2021

ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVELOPMENT IS THE NEED OF THE HOUR Corporate soCial responsibility must be brought into agriCultural extension system

India is changing, and so should Ag-ricultural Education. Today we need skills, not just degrees. Along with technical qualifications, our young ag-riculturists need entrepreneurial skills

to build teams that efficiently respond to competitive environments.

On February 27, Agriculture Today Group organized the first edition of In-dia Education Awards 2021 to felicitate achievers of the Indian Agriculture Edu-cation fraternity.

The awards ceremony, organizedon a virtual platform, was preceded by a VCs Symposium where eminent Vice Chancellors of India’s Agricultural Univer-sities elucidated on opportunities in this sector.

Ms Mamta Jain, CEO and Editor of the Agriculture Today Group mod-erated the symposium. Delivering the welcome note, she expressed her spe-cial gratitude to Dr RC Agrawal, Deputy Director General (Agricultural Educa-

tion), ICAR for his in-valuable contribution for the inaugural edi-tion of India Educa-tion Awards. Ms Jain also thanked all dis-tinguished Members

of the Jury for conferring the prestigious awards.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Agraw-al said that it is important for our youth to be job providers and not job seekers.



He noted that the agricultural universities are working hard to meet the emerging needs of Indian agriculture. During Covid times, many agricultural universities or-ganizedonlineKrishiMelas so that theneeds of the farmers of their respective areas were not neglected.

Dr Agrawal said that there has been major increase in number of students ap-pearing for entrance examination to ag-ricultural universities. Youth were discov-ering that by acquiring skills, they would be able to start their enterprise and make money. For example, youth who under-took training for three months to learn or-namental fish farming was able to make profit and hire other youngsters as work expanded.

Dr Agrawal appreciated that some states are playing a highly proactive role in rural welfare by offering the best ser-vices through their agriculture universi-ties.

Dr Trilochan Mohapatra, Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) was the chief guest for the occasion. Dr Mohapatra congratu-

lated the Agriculture Today Group for or-ganizing the IndiaEducation Awards to felicitate achievers of the Indian Agriculture Education fraternity.

He said that the nation has to collectively work for strengthening this sector. India alsoneeds investment inmodernizationof agriculture research, education and extension.

Dr Mohapatra recommended that corporate social responsibility must be brought into the agricultural extension system. This would modernize Indianagriculture and immensely benefit the

economy. Dr Mohapatra said that entre-preneurship development is a very im-portant role for agriculture universities. It is their task to create the right manpower with domain knowledge, management knowledge and industry exposure.

Dr Mohapatra said that it is important to provide more and more seats in the agricultural colleges to increase gross enrolment ratio and adequately skill our youth to meet the demand of the indus-try. The DG said that the high percentage of Indians in global agriculture research organizationswasproofthatouragricul-tural education is of high standard. Dr Mohapatra said that Indians are driving driving research and technology develop-mentintheseorganizations.

Dr Mohapatra said that agriculture education can be strengthened by en-hancing the numbers plus also focusing on quality. More and more of our students should contribute to global agriculture re-search and development. They must ad-dress the needs of the industry.

Later, Dr Mohapatra gave away awards to the various winners of India Education Awards 2021. Awards were given away to winners in 12 categories.

Speaking at the awards presenta-tion ceremony of India Education Awards 2021, Dr MJ Khan, Chairman, Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture (ICFA) said that the current agricultural scenario in India has three defining trends. One, farmers face production to post production challenges. In this con-

text, the government had brought the three farm laws to unleash the potential of the farm sector.

Dr Khan said that the second defining

agricultural trend of our times is that the large majority of jobs are in the private sector. Accordingly, the course curricu-lum of the agricultural universities must be aligned to the needs of the industry. The third defining trend, said Dr Khan, is the robust growth of startups.

Dr Khan said that more than a dec-ade ago, ICFA initiated the trend to get charm and glamour into agriculture. He said that now, the change has happened. Everyone wants to understand opportu-nities in agriculture.

Dr Khan said that agriculture is see-ing its best days. The post Covid eco-nomic recovery has been majorly pow-ered by the agriculture sector. He said that the target spelled out by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to double agriculture exports is a very major push for this sector. This shall be achieved by focusing on the four Ms – Material (qual-ity of what we produce), Money (invest-ment), Manpower and Markets. We need to more effectively align production with marketing. With the support provided by the government, good days are ahead for agriculture, said Dr Khan.

Dr Praveen Rao, Vice Chancellor, Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University said that our research must focus on addressing the problems faced by the diverse sec-

tors of agriculture, and also explore avenues for growth and development. He said that our farmers are facing various challenges like water

scarcity and climate change. We need to develop indigenous technologies to meet these challenges.

Dr Rao said that most agricultural


start-ups are confined to cities. These start-ups must take emerging technolo-gies to farmers in order to address their challenges. He also spoke of immense opportunities in the agriculture sector. Dr Rao stated that agriculture universi-ties shall have to change the way they function to answer contemporary needs. These universities have to embark upon entrepreneurship culture in a big way. Several courses have to be introduced. The entire ecosystem has to be built to answer rural needs. The need was for a platform approach rather an individual approach, said Dr Rao.

Dr SR Prasad, Vice Chancellor, University of Agricultural Sciences,

Bangalore said that Farmer Producer Or-ganizations (FPOs)can be a very power-ful vehicle to educate farmers about emerg-ing technologies that

answer diverse farm needs. Dr Prasad suggested that at least one FPO must be attached to each KVK. Members of this FPO can be educated about specific as-pects of farming, and they can carry the message to other farmers. He said that FPOs can efficiently perform this task all across the nation.

Dr Prasad said that in Karnataka, seats in agricultural courses have been reserved for the wards of farmers. The reserved seats would be raised to 50 per cent from the next academic session. Dr Prasad said that new technologies have to be demonstrated to farmers at the level of every taluka. The new approach, he said must be tab to land, and not just lab to land.

Dr Balvinder Shukla, Vice Chancel-lor of Amity University, Uttar Pradesh said it was a matter of concern that youth are not getting attracted to agriculture

education. They are moving to cities for corporate jobs. Dr Shukla said that there was need for revamp-ing agriculture educa-tion. Participation in

farm activities must form a very strong part of the course curriculum for students. Students must learn to address the farm-ing challenges. They must also think of solutions for post-harvest technology. Dr Shukla said that farmers need to engage with emerging technologies, and the youth can help fill this gap.

Dr Shukla said that community en-gagement is very important for students of agriculture. In this regard, agriculture educators also need to change their fo-cus. They need to develop technologies that answer local needs. Agriculture is an area that requires far greater practical en-gagement than other areas of study, said Dr Shukla.

Dr Pawan Agrawal – Vice Chancel-lor, Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology said that technology exten-

sion will always have gaps. Our constant effort must be to mini-mize these gaps. Hesaid that the role of agriculture is not just to prepare educated

farmers. Agricultural universities were entrusted with the task of providing agri-cultural workforce for every sector and for every level. He said that the growth of the agriculture sector is possible if we have efficient professionals to serve its various needs. Dr Agrawal said that agriculture education has a highly crucial role to play in the making of aatm nirbhar Bharat. He said the new Education Policy addressed many areas of concern. It was important to encourage the youth to opt for the agri-culture sector, said Dr Agrawal.

Dr ON Singh, Vice Chancellor, Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi saidthattheywereutilizingtheKVKsforspreading awareness among rural youth about the diverse agriculture courses. Dr Singh said that every district has a KVK.

Since KVKs are lo-cated in rural areas, it is easy to reach out to the rural youth through them. In this way, they are able to create awareness

among the youth about programs in di-verse areas like crop farming, dairy, for-estry, fisheries etc, along with the voca-tional courses. Dr Singh said that it is im-portant to educate the rural youth about the opportunities in these areas.

Dr Singh expressed happiness that more and more girls are coming forward for agricultural education. He said that a number of public sector banks, veterinary companies, agri-business companies and other private organizations werecoming to the campus to offer jobs to stu-dents.

Dr RC Srivastava, Vice Chancel-lor, Dr Rajendra Prasad CAU, PUSA,

Samastipur said that it was essential for agricultural uni-versities to create agr i-professionals who can answer the diverse needs of the

market. He said that the nation needs skilled agricultural manpower for diverse fields, from lower end extension work-ers to professionals in top agri-business firms and allied sectors. He said that the universities want to create industry-ready professionals, and also produce the right resource persons for research positions and academics. Dr Srivastava stressed that the purpose of agriculture educa-tion is not to create educated farmers but the right resource persons for all sectors, with the right balance of capacity and compatibility.

Dr Chandra Shekara, Director Gen-eral, MANAGE, Hyderabad said that the current times offer immense oppor-

tunities for agriculture graduates. He said that entrepreneurship development is a very major area of work now. The youth have exhibited a robust re-

sponse to such initiatives. Dr Shekara said that the youth can

offer extension advisory services where public sector cannot reach due to short-age of manpower. Dr Shekara recom-mended that instead of opting for tradi-



tional courses, the youth should move to agri business management. This would lead to income generation, value ad-dition, increase entrepreneurship and make youth job providers instead of job seekers.

Dr Shekara said that agri business management has huge growth potential.

Dr US Gautam, Vice Chancellor, Banda University of Agriculture & Technology, Bundelkhand said that the

youth are realizingthe immense oppor-tunities in the agricul-ture sector. He said that in the last few years, the number of girl students has in-

creased so much that boys hostels are being converted to hostels for girls.

Dr Gautam said that universities are doing a very good job in providing exten-sion services to farmers. He said that demonstration plays a very important role in convincing end users. Seeing by believingandLearningbydoing:wemustremember this when we go to farmers to educate them regarding progressive agricultural practices, he said. Dr Gau-tam spoke about the Bundelkhand Jaivik Corridor. He said that by default, Bun-delkhand is organic. The use of chemical fertilizersislow.Healsostatedthatthereis immense scope for horticulture in this area. Farmers can enhance their income by adopting integrated farming.

Dr Neeraja Prabhakar, Vice Chan-cellor, Shri Konda Laxman Telangana

State Horticultural University also spoke about the op-portunities offered by horticulture in aug-menting farmers’ in-comes. She said that

the popularity of horticulture has grown immensely after the Covid experience. People have realied the value of fruits in building immunity.

Dr Prabhakar said that horticulture shall play a major role in doubling farm-ers’ incomes. In horticulture, productivity levels can be significantly higher. Farmers

can reach increased water efficiency with higher production. Through horticulture polytechnics, two-year diploma courses can be offered. These can skill the youth in diverse aspects of horticulture and pro-vide them more job opportunities. Youth can also engage in the development of post-harvest services and technologies, and turn entrepreneurs.

Dr NC Patel, Former VC, Anand Ag-ricultural University, Gujarat, said it is a

matter of concern that private colleges are mushrooming which do not have proper infrastructure. Dr Pa-tel observed that the respective state gov-

ernments must observe whether these colleges are providing quality education. He said that ultimately, the state agricul-ture universities have to bear the burden of the poor quality of students who pass out of such sub-standard institutes.

Dr Patel stressed that without ac-creditation provided by ICAR, state gov-ernments should not allow private agri-cultural colleges with poor infrastructure to function.

Dr Patel said that agricultural scien-tists are revising the curriculum for stu-dents regularly. They have a strong con-nect with the rural populace in their area. Dr Patel highlighted that skilled diploma holders have high employment potential in the diverse agriculture sectors.

Dr MK Naik, University of Agri-cultural and Horticultural Sciences,

Shivamogga, said that integrated farm-ing systems can sig-nificantly contribute to increasing farmer income. These can combine agriculture, horticulture and ani-

mal husbandly. Large-scale adoption of such farming systems will help the nation to move from food security to nutrition security. He said that horticulture offers immense scope in helping achieve nutri-tion security and also doubling farmers’ income.

Dr Naik said that due to Covid, re-verse migration was observed all across the nation. He said that agriculture has limited scope for absorbing the additional manpower available in rural areas. Ter-race gardening could offer avenues to absorb migration. Horticulture can also help farmers to develop entrepreneur-ship.

Dr Naik said that the current times of-fer huge potential for startups. Startups can find ways and means to convert per-ishable commodities into valuable assets and significantly increase shelf life.

Dr Arvind Kumar, Vice Chancellor, Rani Laxmi Bai Central Agricultural

University, Jhansi, advocated that ag-riculture must be taught at school level. He said that agricul-ture serves the entire manufacturing and in-

dustry sector directly or indirectly. Dr Kumar said there are many ben-

efits associated with early education of students in agriculture. He stressed that attracting rural youth towards agriculture is the need of the hour.

Dr Kumar said that when a subject as important as agriculture is introduced, it is appropriate to arrange the content in a structured manner. It should be placed layer by layer in the increasing order of complexity. Adding a small concept in one class and another small concept in another class, without a significant practi-cal component, does not enthuse either teachers or students, he said.

Dr Satish Y Deodhar, Chairman, PG Program, Food and Agribusiness, IIM Ahmedabad also spoke briefly at the

Symposium. He said that the nation needs many agricultural sci-entists and agricul-tural engineers. At the same time, the nation also needs profes-

sionals in the field of agri-business man-agement. He urged meritorious youth to opt for agri-business management and find rewarding, lucrative careers.




INDIA AGRICULTURE EDUCATION AwARDS 2021winnersof

university of Agricultural Sciences, Bangaloreuniversity of Agricultural and horticultural Sciences, Shivamogga

dr ySr horticultural university, Andhra Pradesh

Agricultural Training institute, Ahmednagar

Prof dr Balvinder Shukla, vC Amity university, uttar Pradesh

institute of Agribusiness Management, Bikaner

For their exemplary work on development of unique teaching approaches, dedicated software such as Under Graduates Academic Management, DigiLocker, Digital Evaluation. Their new curricula has increased the employability and entrepreneurial ability of the graduates. One of the top State Agricultural Universities, the university offers Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral degree programmes producing top graduates, fully trained for leadership in researches and managerial professions.

For their groundbreaking contribution towards the research and development of High Yielding Varieties in crops viz., Paddy, Tobacco, Castor and Cowpea. The only integrated farm university in Karnataka to have teaching programmes in Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry. Has obtained patent for Mini Hand Operated Groundnut Sheller. Benefitting farmers by producing 388.55 tonnes of quality seeds and 38.53 lakhs planting materials and 98.90 tonnes of Bioagents and Biofertilizers. The extension wing conducted front line demonstrations, several farm trials, trainings, vocational and skill oriented programmes, workshops besides analysis of soil and water samples.

For her outstanding work towards promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship. A strategist, institution builder, a leader who has taken entrepreneurship to new level. Has authored many books and publications. She has been instrumental in furthering both entrepreneurial growth and spirit. Under her robust leadership, several dedicated centres are promoting innovations and entrepreneurship at Amity campuses. Has conducted several national and international programmes. Has mentored several budding entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs and family business owners.

For ongoing leadership and commitment towards development of human resources through Education, research and extension in horticulture and allied sectors through technology transfer by KVKs, HRSs, for farmers, youth and women. The impact of technology transfer initiatives viz., village adoption under “Vice-Chancellor to Village” programme, Community Radio Station (Udyana Vani), Electronic wing, Dr.YSRHU, Udyana Varthalu and YouTube Channel can be seen in several success stories. For example, ‘Livelihood Improvement of Rubber Growers in Tribal Area of East Godavari District, where the tribal rubber grower earned Rs 35,295 over a period of 160 days.

For sustained excellence in curriculum design and teaching programmes at the nexus of agriculture and business. Curriculum designed to develop professionally skilled agri business managers for leading corporate and non corporate organisations of the country. The extraordinary work towards creation of gainful employment opportunities with 100 percent placements since inception in leading agro based public and private organizations. A strong alumni network in agriculture and agribusiness industry helps the institute in making strong academia-industry interface.

For leadership and commitment to innovative agricultural training programmes and workshops given to agricultural students, entrepreneurs, farmers to strengthen their knowledge. Founded by aspiring students of IIT Kharagpur, IARI, New Delhi and VNMKV, Parbhani the institute provides affordable trainings based on current agriculture scenario along with certification. Has organised several farmer trainings and internship programmes benefitting around 15000+ farmers and 2000+ students

excellence in courSe AndcurriculuM deSign AwArdS

excellence in reSeArch & developMent

excellence in Skill developMent

excellence in trAining & plAceMentS

excellence in entrepreneurShip developMent

excellence in induStrYAcAdeMiA interFAce



dr. rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural university, Samastipur, Bihar

dr Ar Pathak, former vice Chancellor, Junagadh Agricultural university, Gujarat

rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural university, Jhansi

Odisha university of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneshwar

dr rC Agrawal, ddG (Education), iCAr

dr Naginbhai Chandubhai Patel, Former vC, Anand Agricultural university, Gujarat

For development and implementation of numerous effective and efficient systems for an environment friendly green campus. The groundbreaking works include conversion of farm waste into vermi compost and other value added products, utilization of solar energy and Boat Mounted Solar based Pump, developed by the University. These have been selected under RAFTAR Project and assistance given by MANAGE. For their commitment in promoting a high-quality learning environment and the creation of an integrated approach that develops appreciation and understanding of the environmental and socio-economic significance of soil-plant-animal- people interface.

For an exceptional career record as a plant breeder, crop specialist, director and vice chancellor of two eminent agricultural universities in the country. Is credited with key role in the development of 25 improved varieties in different crops viz., cotton, pulses, mustard, cluster bean, castor and rice and recommendation of 14 production technologies on castor, mustard and rice. More than 500 technologies including 60 varieties were developed under his guidance. Rankings of both NAU and JAU improved significantly at National Level during his tenure as Vice Chancellor. Has been Member of high-ranking panels such as Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board (ASRB) and The National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources (NBPGR). Has published more than 50 research articles and 6 books chapters.

For creating a campus with world class environment friendly and sustainable facilities. The energy efficient buildings are equipped with roof top solar panels, rain water harvesting systems, built of fly ash bricks, double unit glasses and natural stone facade for centralised air conditioning. With 22 SMART Classrooms, 23 well-established centralized laboratories, two seminar rooms and 2 multipurpose halls with centralized RO water facilities. With campus Wi-Fi and 100% Power Back-Up with UPS supply for IT equipment, the university is unique amongst the agricultural institutes in the country. For impacting student success through the development and

dissemination of innovative teaching, research projects, extension education. Has a distinguished alumni of more than 28,000 students serving in various capacities in administrative departments, universities, research organizations, MNCs, financial institutions etc both in the country and abroad.

For ongoing and sustained commitment to providing students with learning motivation, providing directions for improving the quality of higher education in agriculture, and attracting the youth for pursuing careers in Agriculture and allied sectors. Has contributed significantly to the areas of Statistics, Biodiversity Informatics and Intellectual Property Rights, Plant Variety. A fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, has been part of the Indian delegation to more than 20 countries.

For exceptional dedication and leadership as a teacher, principal, Dean and Vice-chancellor of two eminent agricultural universities. He established new colleges for Diploma, UG and PG education programmes in Agriculture and allied areas. Developed linkages with about 40 National and International institutions for research, education and student-faculty exchange. Under his leadership, AAU was ranked among top 100 Universities of India by NIRF, MHRD consecutively for three years and fourth in Atal Ranking of Institutions on Innovation Achievements. He also served as Member of the International Scientific Advisory Board in the World Bank Project on Africa Centre of Excellence for Mycotoxin and Food Safety at Federal University of Technology, Nigeria.

excellent green cAMpuS initiAtive liFetiMe AchieveMent AwArd

excellent inFrAStructure

univerSitY oF the YeAr

Atg & JurY’S choice AwArd For exeMplArY leAderShip in Agriculture educAtion

liFetiMe AchieveMent AwArd

AgHub (a Section 8 Company under Company Act, 2013) is the first of its kind incubator

Operating in a Hub & Spoke Model

For supporting Agritech start-ups and entrepreneurs In Agriculture, Agribusiness & Rural Livelihoods

AgHubAgri Innovation Hub

Inspire Innovate Impact

To nurture early stage agri-startups across the State and India in developing technologies & go to market support.

To bring a paradigm shift in the research through translational research approach and bring Ph.Ds to mainstream startup ecosystem.

To build a congenial ecosystem to commercialize the technologies of the University.

To create a platform for successful immersion of startup technologies to farmers of the State.

Design Thinking,Sensitization, Ideationprograms

Translational ResearchWorkshops & EDPs

Incubation &Acceleration &Innovation Challenges

Customer PitchPrograms / AIPs

Funding through Equity SeedFunding & Grants

For students/graduates & early stage innovators / Rural Innovators / Rural Youth

For Post Graduates, Researchers

For idea stage, early stage and Scale stage Agritech startups

Connecting startups to potentialcustomers

Access to early stage risk funding

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SENSITIZE INCUBATEIDEATE/TRANSLATIONAL

RESEARCHACCELERATE /

INNOVATION BRIDGESEQUITY / GRANT FUNDING

Objectives

Our ApproachTowards Entrepreneurship in Agriculture

Vision

A World Class Agri Innovation Hub that promotes innovations and entrepreneurship in Agri-food systems

for a local change with a global impact.

Mission

To promote innovations and entrepreneurship in agriculture and rural ecosystem through mentoring, piloting,

and facilitating access to market, research and investment.

NAA SG TN AA TL EE AT GR RA ICK

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LA TH US RA AY LA J U

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IO VS ES RE SF IO TR YP

Contact:[email protected]

Documents

March 2021 AGRICULTURE TODAY 1...2 AGRICULTURE TODAY March 2021 BAU- HArBinger of AgricUltUrAl Development in JHArkHAnD Birsa Agricultural University, Ranchi was formally inaugurated