Amrita School of Agricultural Sciences (ASA) hosted a virtual panel discussion on, “Food Security and Future of Agriculture Science Graduates” on July 8, 2021, through Zoom at 2.00 pm. The panel discussion was moderated by Dr. Sudheesh Manalil (Principal, cum Head of Research and Post Graduate Program Chair, ASA) with other panelists Mr. Vijay Sardana (Chairperson – Agricultural Committee, Federation of Indian Industry (FII)), Dr. T.P. Sethumadhavan (Education and Career Consultant), Dr. K. Sudhakara (Dean (Rtd), College of Forestry, Kerala Agricultural University), Mr. Murali Manohar (MD, Farm Tech Consultancy, India and GM, Tech Farming International, Oman).
Deliberations related future of Agricultural graduates in relation to food security was held during the panel discussion. Mr. Vijay Sardana conversed the overview of the Indian Agriculture Sector and stressed that Food Security is most important in sustaining society. Mr. Sardana pointed out that role of future agriculture graduates will be to feed the growing population including animals within only 0.1 ha per capita availability land without diminishing the quantity and quality of natural resources such as land, soil, water, air, etc.
Dr. T. P. Sethumadhavan has highlighted the carrier opportunities in agriculture and the allied sector. He stressed that agriculture is seeing a transition from the production sector toward a technology-enabled business sector where the role of disruptive technologies like blockchain, data sciences and robotics would play a major role. He pointed out that the Agri graduates should enable themselves with the knowledge of these sectors to be future-ready.
The significance of four years structure of B. Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture programs and highlighted various opportunities to Agriculture graduates were explained by Dr. K. Sudhakara Dean (Rtd), College of Forestry, Kerala Agricultural University. Mr. Muralee Manohar envisaged that urban farming technologies will have a significant growth in supplementing food security, among them aquaponics, hydroponics and aeroponics are technologies gaining momentum. High tech prototypes can be developed in the Amrita campus itself for the benefit of students for gaining practical knowledge on it. Finally, Dr. Sudheesh Manalil, stressed that Amrita School of Agricultural Sciences offers a multidisciplinary approach in agriculture compared to conventional universities. He also ensured, collaborations with engineering, biotechnology, medicine, nanotechnology is possible in solving the problems of agriculture at ASA. The webinar was attended by many parents, students and faculties and was co-organized by Dinamalar, Tamil Nadu.
