Agriculture
India, being an agrarian society, has always regarded Agriculture as
the back-bone of her economy. Time and again, the agriculture sector
has highlighted its importance by contributing towards the overall growth
of the whole nation. About 65 per cent of our population still relies on
agriculture for employment and livelihood. Agriculture also accounts for
8.56 % of India?s exports. Presently, about 43 % of India's total geographical
area is used for agricultural activity.
Undoubtedly, today it can be said that History of agriculture is in fact
the history of humanity itself. With changing times, the agricultural scenario
in India has also undergone drastic changes. Gone are the days when agriculture
was practiced by rule of thumb only, today it has become extremely scientific,
sophisticated and mechanized and consequently a very lucrative profession. Today,
more emphasis is being given on the progress of agricultural education and research
in the country. Indian Council of Agricultural research (ICAR), the national apex
body is undertaking various schemes for the students and researches to make the
field of study interesting.
The Government of India (GOI) has also taken special attention to generate
awareness among the rural community with regards to latest technological
know- how and skill-up gradation.
There are over 40 university-level institutions and about 200 colleges
offering various courses in Agriculture. These intuitions are quite
active in grooming professionals in the field of agricultural sciences
and technology. They offer undergraduate programmes in more than a
dozen major disciplines of agriculture and postgraduate programmes in
more than 70 related disciplines along with research facilities. ICAR
is constantly coordinating with all these agricultural universities for
overall progress in education as well as research.
Recently to further gain global expertise in the domain, India has signed
"Evergreen Revolution? pact with the US which enables transfer of technology
and vital know-how in the sphere of agriculture education.
