By Sharad Pawar
The overall growth of the Indian economy depends on agriculture as it affects the growth in other sectors. Further, agricultural growth per se tends to bring about equity as about 52% of our population directly depends on agriculture. There is a continuing need to develop quality human resource that propels this growth. Realizing this, the India Government has, through successive Plans, supported the development of higher agricultural education in the country. The human resource thus developed has contributed towards the increase in food grain, milk, oilseed, vegetables and fish production.

Agriculture in India, through research and technology development, has enabled the country to increase the production of foodgrains by 4 times, horticultural crops by 6 times, fish by 9 times (marine 5 times and inland 17 times), milk 6 times and eggs 27 times since 1950-51, thus making a visible impact on the nation’s food and nutritional security.

The achievements in Indian agriculture have been unprecedented and admired the world over. The year gone by has been exceptionally good for the country with a record production of total food grains (230.67 million tonnes), rice (96.43 million tonnes), wheat (78.40 million tonnes), maize (19.31 million tonnes), cotton (25.81 million bales), and coarse grain (40.73 million tonnes). This is an outstanding achievement, for which the agricultural scientists and farmers of our country deserve appreciation.

While continuing with the recently established new and successful models of experiential learning units and areas of excellence, the Council has launched several new initiatives in higher agricultural education during this year. The development grant to AUs has been increased. Provisions have been made for century-old historical agricultural colleges that needed support, particularly for developing infrastructure and undertaking major refurbishing works. The number of girl students is increasing rapidly and upto 2 girls’ hostels are being provided in the XI Plan to each AU along with other related amenities.

A major exercise involving over 1000 academicians was undertaken and post-graduate course curricula and syllabi in 95 disciplines revised for implementation. Revised PG course curricula and syllabi are in final shape and form the main theme of the discussion during this VC’s Conference.

I congratulate the ICAR and Agricultural Universities for this accomplishment and for bringing this issue up-front for deliberations. I am told that the Under Graduate course curricula has already been revised as recommended by the IV Deans’ Committee constituted by the ICAR and adopted by all the agricultural universities across the country. The revised PG Course Curricula on adoption would greatly help in further making higher agricultural education more utilitarian and relevant in tune with the scientific and technological advancements and the demands of the country’s growing economy. Farms constitute the basic skeleton in the AUs established on Land Grant pattern. The Council has fulfilled the promise made in the Vice Chancellors’ Conference held in Pantnagar, in the year 2006, by launching a mega initiative on “Modernization of Agricultural Universities’ Farms” with an outlay of Rs 422 crores.

I have been told that consequent to the expeditious clearance of the CCEA, this project has been operationalized from this year itself. The project envisages enhancing the breadth, relevance and quality of education, training and research through modernization of AU farms. It will lead to enhancing practical and experiential exposure in students and entrepreneurship development, augmenting supply of seed/planting material, providing a common space for interface of public-private partnerships, facilitating technology-incubation and up-scaling of technologies towards commercialisation and resource generation.

The Council has, for the first time, made a provision for Overseas Fellowships. The Fellowships have a dual objective of serving two objectives (i) facilitating education of Indian nationals in one of the best Universities abroad, and (ii) facilitating admission of foreign students in Indian AUs to help demonstrate the strengths of the Indian agricultural system.

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