New nationwide project launched to strengthen higher agricultural education in India

New Delhi, Jan 28: For boosting agricultural education, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research has launched an ambitious nationwide project called "National Agricultural Higher Education project". The ICAR hopes that this project will help to promote the participation of students in agricultural business. 

Sing said, “in order to make agriculture education useful, with recommendations of the 5th Dean Committee have been implemented in all the Agricultural Universities under which amendment of agricultural degree courses has been done to include biotechnology, information technology, bio-informatics, remote sensing, organic farming, agriculture business management.”

Emphasis has been given on experiential learning, skill and entrepreneurship development. Along with this, four new programs, B.Tech (Biotechnology), B.Sc. Community Science, B.Sc. Food Nutrition and Dietetics and B.Sc. Sericulture has also been included.

Singh informed that the ICAR has recently launched Rs 1100 crore ambitious National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) to attract talent and strengthen higher agricultural education in the country. This project will be funded by the World Bank and the Indian Government on a 50:50 basis. In addition, a four-year degree in Agriculture, Horticulture, Fisheries, and Forestry has been declared a professional degree.

A MoU has been signed between the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship to promote skill development in the field of agriculture. Under this, skill development training programs are being organized regularly in KVKs across the country. These training programs are based on agriculture and related topics.