STEAM can boost agri engine in rural India

Pune: The UGC has hinted at considering inclusion of introduction to agriculture in the basic tenet of national education to boost the agro-based economy of India at a time the farmers are in distress.
Currently, agriculture education is not a part of courses offered at higher education institutions under the UGC (University Grants Commission).
Deliberations on including “A” in STEM — science, technology, engineering and mathematics — the prime need in industries and the source of maximum jobs in India — have started.The main objective of this move is to break silos and widen the scope of agriculture through the platform of mainstream education for the inclusive growth of rural India.
The discussions about including agriculture in the basic tenet of education under choice-based credit system started at the 3rd National Teachers’ Congress last week in Pune. The transition from “STEM” to “STEAM” could be a reality in near future.
UGC vice-chairman Bhushan Patwardhan told TOI, “The idea of STEAM is aimed at sensitizing students about the processes, perspectives and problems of agriculture sector. It may also bridge the urban and rural gap, taking knowledge to the farmlands miles away from the city with a hope to push the ‘engine’ for the robust growth of the agro-based Indian economy. When about 58% of rural households depend on agriculture as principal means of livelihood, basic introduction to agriculture as part of the higher education curriculum makes lot of sense.
“India has an agrarian economy, but agriculture has hardly been at the forefront of the higher education. I see no reason why a student of BA, BSc, BCom or even for that matter BE, MBA and MBBS should not get an opportunity to know at least the basics of agriculture during their college education. STEAM would be a game changer and give agriculture studies a pedestal to reach out to large number of students,” said Patwardhan.
Education experts stressed STEAM would take logic and knowledge to remote farming areas, reducing crop loss.
“The move can help increase farmers’ returns from their produce,” said science graduate Jaideep Kute (31), whose father is an onion-grower in Pune district.
Onion-growers in the state are passing through a tough time this financial year. Its wholesale price in Lasalgaon dropped to as low as Re 1/kg. Several sugarcane producers are also in distress this fiscal.
Patwardhan said, “STEAM has the potential to address the woes of farmers. Scientific researches will help them select the correct cash crop to grow. Mathematical theories will also percolate to them, giving them a fair idea on market economics. More importantly, young students would be more sensitive to hardships of farmers and better appreciate the value of sustainable agriculture.”
He said, “Times are changing now. Right from Radhakrishnan Commission in 1949, educational reforms are sought to transform and relate it to the life, needs and aspirations of people. The trans-disciplinary approaches are the need of the hour. Concept like STEAM can add momentum to it.”