3^rd Brainstorming Session

Theme: Agricultural Education Policy

The 3^rd Brain Storming Session of I.A.U.A was held on 8-9 March 2008 at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana.

Major recommendations

• There is an absolute need to introduce agricultural education right from the school level upward culminating into vocational courses with particular emphasis on deliverables in each course.


• The states may be encouraged to set up ‘Board of Higher Education’ in agriculture for improving the quality of education.


• SAUs should make efforts to enhance influx of students from rural areas in agricultural programmes. Reservation of seats for such students in agriculture education through legislation may be an answer to it.


• Admission to agricultural programmes in all the private/public institutions should be through common entrance test.


• There is a need to reconsider monitoring of teaching quality, evaluation and to re-visit the internal evaluation as existed earlier than shifting to external evaluation.


• Course curriculum should be made demand-driven to prepare students, to face the newly emerging challenges, and lay due emphasis on practicals.


• SAUs should have more diverse range of relevant courses which the students can choose VIZ, Biotechnology, Nanotechnology, Information and Communication Technology, Space, IPR, WTO, Agri-business etc.


• For the sake of quality education, thrust should be given on Human Resource Development (HRD) in cutting edge technology areas as it used to be in the 1970s.No post should be kept vacant.


• There is a need to establish relation/collaboration with traditional universities, IITs, IIScs., IIMs and industry for perfect wide range updated education.


• There should also be a separate fisheries, live stock and animal husbandry education policy integrating education, research and extension.


• Accreditation process needs to be speeded up and extended to private agricultural colleges. Simultaneously AUs should be equipped to handle the affiliation of private agricultural colleges to keep up the academic standards.


• Evaluation system should be combination of both external and internal with 50 % weight- age given to each. As this is recently recommended, it may be reviewed after gap of some period.


• There is a great need of open door policy to encourage students and teachers from basic sciences to join AUs and basic sciences students be admitted to agricultural PG courses.