India, a leading producer of agricultural commodities, faces declining farm profitability. To address this, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, with support from the World Bank, is revamping agricultural education to create a new generation of skilled professionals. These professionals aim to spearhead the next Green Revolution, making agriculture more productive, profitable, and climate-resilient.
The curricula of seventy-seven agricultural universities have been significantly upgraded to meet world standards. Students now train in state-of-the-art labs, learning to use GPS, drones, remote sensing technologies, data analytics, robotics, and artificial intelligence. The program offers students the opportunity to learn from top national and international teachers and to study abroad.
Between 2017 and 2024, the World Bank’s National Agricultural Higher Education Project ($82.50 million) supported the Indian Council for Agricultural Research in improving agricultural education quality. Over 514,000 students were trained in 77 agricultural universities, with annual enrollments more than doubling from 25,000 to 64,000, 45% of whom were girls. The project nurtured over 90 entrepreneurs, creating over 500 jobs with an average turnover of Rs 92 lacs per year.
With these advancements, the students of India’s revamped agricultural universities are set to transform rural India and ensure the country's food security well into the future.