Agriculture graduates ready for private jobs if they pay well’: CoAP department head

Established in 1905, the College of Agriculture, Pune (CoAP) is among the oldest agriculture education institutes in the country. Now a constituent college of Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri (Ahmednagar), CoAP has begun reforming its academic programmes in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) and the Sixth Deans' Committee Report of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

Subhash Bhalekar, head of the horticulture section at the institute, speaks about skill enhancement courses in the curriculum, making learning more profitable for students and employment prospects for agriculture graduates.

What changes have been brought to the agriculture course curriculum following the Sixth Deans' Committee Report?

As recommended by the report, we have added six skill enhancement courses of two credits each to the syllabus.

In BSc Horticulture, courses such as floor management, which teaches different designs for fruit gardens, mushroom production and landscaping have been introduced. An introductory course on forestry will also be taught as 10% of questions in the Maharashtra Council for Agriculture Education Research (MCAER) PG CET are related to this subject and it's useful for those seeking to create a nursery of wild flowers.

In addition to a course on aesthetic flowers, we are considering a programme on post-harvest technology to teach students about jam and jelly production.

Have you seen any improvement in student engagement after the new curriculum was put in place?

Student engagement has definitely increased. As provided in the report, we conducted the deeksharambh induction programme, with lectures by experts and entrepreneurs. The students were connected with their seniors, farms and laboratories. I think this helps reduce drop-outs from the course.

What's the feedback from the faculty?

We have found all the changes to be good except in the case of certain subjects, such as entomology and pathology, where the number of courses has been reduced. It's a challenge to teach these topics in a short span of time. How can one explain pest control without first having students gain basic understanding about insects, their mouthparts and life cycle?

Are there any other modifications in the course structure?

For the last three years, we have converted the Rural Agricultural Work Experience (RAWE) and experiential learning to year-long activities. Earlier, these activities would span only one semester in the final year of the course. Now, the final year students take turns for RAWE and experiential learning.

This was done to ensure that they are able to complete a project and earn proceeds from it, which is equally shared by students and the institute.

For example, one of the modules in the experiential learning components is commercial vegetable production, where one batch of students harvests onion bulbs, while the other batch plants them in the next season to produce seeds.

Through this method, the students gain insight into which crops give better financial returns. After understanding the market, they can do their own seed or sapling production business.

Last year, each of our students earned Rs 4,500, with an overall profit of Rs 2 lakh from the sale of around three quintals of onion seeds. Our seeds are sold by the students on the college premises and are much in demand.

Apart from onion seed production, which other modules does the college offer?

We have recently started producing Kokedama [a Japanese ornamental arrangement of a plant growing on a ball of soil and moss]. As these plants live for a long duration, students prepare and sell them at prices ranging from Rs 300 to Rs 700. We are trying to popularise the technique of making Kokedama. Last year, we also started growing strawberries on campus.

Why has enrollment in agriculture courses stagnated in the last few years?

We have reached a stabilisation level in job markets everywhere. In fields such as medicine, graduates can do their own practice. We hope that our students also similarly begin thinking in the direction of having their own business.

Most of the agriculture graduates aspire for government jobs. Is that trend changing?

While earlier students only aimed for government employment, they are now ready to take up private jobs too, as long as they pay well. CoAP gets the cream of the students and they are not ready to accept offers of Rs 20,000 - 25,000 monthly salary.

Have you made any changes to the post-graduation courses?

We offer an MSc in Floricuture and Landscaping, where we have introduced new courses, including vertical gardening, and rose and gladiolus farming, to boost their confidence.

Does the college have enough faculty to implement NEP policies ?

While we largely have the necessary faculty, the small shortfall is overcome through contractual hiring. We also bring in temporary staff from the state forestry department and other research centres.