Interactions with the Father of Green Revolution Dr MS Swaminathan – seeking an unique outlook for Education for Agriculture
The father of Green Revolution in India Dr. MS Swaminathan elucidates Agricultural Education in a distinct fashion. He states that Education for Agriculture means teaching a whole lot of allied disciplines along-with agricultural sciences encompassing several related occupations and thus, enhances farmers’ income and profitability. Towards this vision, aspirant students should be taught basic as well as applied sciences and business management principles for building their own future. Education for Agriculture provides opportunities to learn basic agricultural skills and knowledge, occupation training and retraining, and professional growth and development. As a formal education program, agricultural education focuses on three major components: formal classroom instructions, field experience programs, and project management and managerial skill development. These components are delivered through a competency-based curriculum in the context of agriculture. This is essential to stay abreast with the fast-moving developments in technology, science, business management, and an array of related skills that benefit agricultural operations.
India essentially require modern and applied system of Education for Agriculture, so that our farmers are better equipped to handle the challenges of globalization. With the recent entry of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the sector, many MNCs have forayed into the segment with a multitude of agro-products. Subsequently this has resulted as a threat to Indian farmers who lack professional expertise to better deal with the transition. Hence, we need to generate agri-professionals for guiding our farmers to uplift their standard of living through economic benefits.
A transcendent level of sharing knowledge will pave way for food as well as nutritional security to the population. This is collateral with the economic security and women empowerment as skills and awareness on crop diversification, value addition, inclusion of animal husbandry, forestry and fisheries. The future of agricultural education is bright as More than 60 percent of the Indian population is involved in agriculture. Indian agriculture is serving national as well as global population and its very existence requires the services of well-educated people in the agricultural sciences. Hence, we need to provide theoretical and experiential learning as well as personal leadership development training to pave the way for modern agriculture.
