How Agricultural Education is Shaping the Nation’s Future
How Agricultural Education is Shaping the Nation’s Future Dr.Sajad H.Parey Dr.Waseem Ahmad Agriculture is not just a profession in India—it’s a way of life. More than 50% of the country’s workforce depends on it, and in 2020–21, it contributed nearly 20% to India’s Gross Value Added (GVA), according to Agricultural Statistics at a Glance 2021. But this isn’t only about fields and food. It’s a story of education, innovation, and the urgent need to prepare a new generation of skilled professionals who can feed the future. The Ancient Roots of Agricultural Wisdom India’s relationship with agriculture goes back centuries. In fact, it was part of the curriculum at ancient universities like Nalanda and Takshila. A 2021 policy paper from the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS) highlights how early Indian education systems placed high value on farming knowledge. This isn’t surprising. Agriculture wasn’t seen as just manual labor—it was respected as both science and ...