Interventions in Improving Horticultural Education

Vice Chancellor Meet on the Re-orientating Horticultural Education Needs
As panel discussion on the ‘Future Horticultural Education Needs’ was organized during the Fifth Indian Horticulture Congress- 2012 on Horticulture for Food & Environment Security held at Ludhiana, Punjab on 9th November, 2012 in which 13 Vice Chancellors from different Agricultural Universities namely, Dr D.P. Ray, Vice-Chancellor, OUA&T, Bhubaneswar; Dr M.L. Choudhary, Vice Chancellor, Bihar Agricultural University, Sabour, Bhagalpur; Dr K.R. Dhiman, Vice-Chancellor, Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Nauni, Solan; Dr D.S. Rathore, Former Vice Chancellor, CSKHPKV, Palampur; Dr R.P. Awasthi, Former Vice Chancellor, Dr Y.S. Parmar University of Horticulture & Forestry, Nauni, Solan; Dr T.A. More, Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri, Maharashtra; Dr K.E. Lawande, Vice Chancellor, K.K.V.V., Dapoli, Maharashtra; Dr K.V. Peter, Former Vice Chancellor, Kerala Agricultural University, Trissur; Dr Jagmohan Singh, Former Vice Chancellor, Dr YSPUH&F, Solan and Dr B.S. Dhillon, Vice Chancellor, PAU, Ludhiana participated in the discussion. The serum was Chaired by Dr Kirti Singh and Co-chaired by Dr B.S. Chundawat.

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In this session it was highlighted that the present system in Horticulture Education which was essentially the component of Agricultural education focusing more on means of livelihood was not capable of meeting the new challenges of modern horticulture. It was proposed to reorient the relevant, efficient and dynamic system for Horticulture Education System. The salient recommendation which emerged from this discussion are

Redefine horticultural education all inclusive of its scope, output, expectation and approach through brain storming to make it relevant and responsive to present needs and challenges with a human touch.

Agricultural Education in the regions where horticulture is the only agricultural activity like hilly and NE hilly states, west coastal regions and the Deccan plateau need more focus towards horticulture.

Introducing Agriculture/Horticulture stream at school level (10+2 level) for attracting young students.

Form a consortium of clientele, i.e. faculty and government to help in development of curriculum, its delivery system, facilities, standardization and periodic review system for improving accessibility, quality and demand.

Introduce the concept of total quality management through development of standards; ensure their implementation through periodic reviews, feedback and accreditation.

Build national and international partnership for strengthening wisdom flow, practical hands on experience, experiential learning and self employment.

Introduce accountability of teachers and institutions by setting standards of output feedback and academic auditing.

Develop human resource for undertaking cutting edge technologies through exchange programmes and establishment of para-horticultural vocational institutes for supporting specialized activities and skills.

Curbing inbreeding in admission by drawing students from other states and recruitment for improving the teaching standards, service conditions and retaining meritorious students in teaching and research.

Liberal funding for faculty upgradation, infra-structural development, strengthening faculty, research partnership in niche areas, capability building, management of IPR and establishment of para-horticultural professional centres, etc.

Strengthening basic science and communication skills and use of modern tools of the trade and language proficiency.

Brainstorming Session on ‘Role of Horticulture Education in Doubling Farmers’ Income’, June, 28-29, 2018, NASC Complex, New Delhi

The Horticultural Society of India organized Brainstorming Session on ‘Role of Horticulture Education in Doubling Farmers’ Income’ from June, 28-29, 2018 at NASC Complex, New Delhi with the support of ICAR, New Delhi under the Chairmanship of Dr K.L. Chadha, President, HSI. Dr T. Mohapatra, Secretary DARE and Director General (ICAR) inaugurated the event as Chief Guest of the function. In his remarks he said that he is not in favour of opening too many universities/ institution specific to the subject group like Horticulture, Animal Science, Fisheries etc. Appreciating the importance of Horticulture, he was of opinion that horticulture research and education should not be too thinly distributed among different groups. He suggested that horticulturists need to lay more focus on developing improved varieties besides clonal selection on which they presently lay emphasis. He said that the group should focus on inclusion of modern horticulture technologies

 

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such as hi-tech horticulture, hydroponics aeroponics etc. in the curriculum. He emphasized that the horticultural scientists should focus on science-led horticulture development and stated that horticulture discipline should do more science and should not move towards the mere gardening. He also emphasized for integration of different disciplines of science rather than disintegration. While, it was pointed out that Post Graduate Degree in minor discipline of Horticulture such as M.Sc. in Horticultural Entomology, Horticultural Pathology etc. have been started, he was not in favour of such proliferation and directed that participating faculties in the brainstorming session should take care of such anomalies. While thanking Director General, ICAR, Dr K.L. Chadha, President, HSI pointed out that the group would not be discussing establishment of more colleges or universities but would be focussing only on improving horticulture productivity through strengthening Education in Horticulture. He also mentioned that while significant improvement in Research in Horticulture has taken place, a large number of crops (more than 200) are dealt in the horticulture, while allocation of comparatively fewer horticultural
scientists to crops scientists have not enabled the horticulturist to fully exploit their potential both in varietal development and productively improvement. After detailed deliberations following the recommendation emerged out.

Nomenclature of Department/ Degrees in Horticulture

Department : It was felt that there should be uniformly in nomenclature of Department and degrees awarded by different educational institutions in the country. It was suggested to keep the name as Department of Fruit Science; Department of Vegetable Science; Department of Floriculture and Landscaping; Department of PostHarvest Horticulture.

Degrees to be awarded : M.Sc./Ph.D. (Hort.) Fruit Science; M.Sc. /Ph.D. (Hort.) Vegetable Science; M.Sc./Ph.D. (Hort.) Floriculture and Landscaping; M.Sc. /Ph.D. (Hort.) Post Harvest Management

Nomenclature of ARS Disciplines in Horticulture : After detailed discussion, it was unanimously suggested that the following four Disciplines in Horticulture Science may be adopted uniformly based on the existing faculties in the most of the agri/horticultural universities by the ASRB for ARS/ SRF/ NET Examinations.
Fruit Science (will also cover Plantation crops)
Vegetable Science (will also cover Tuber crops and Spices)
Floriculture and Landscaping (will also cover Medicinal and Aromatic crops)
Post-harvest Management (Horticultural crops)

Recognizing Excellence in Horticultural Research and Education : The group recommended that ICAR may consider reinstituting the following awards in horticulture discipline which have been clubbed with crop sciences based on some committee report keeping in view the faculty available in Horticulture and research achievements in the discipline of horticulture.

Rafi Ahmad Kidwai Award
Lal Bahadur Shastri Young Scientist Award

Post Graduate Research: Current Trends & Future Need: In this session six presentations (Dr M.R. Dinesh and Dr S.K. on Fruit Science; Dr T.K. Behera on Vegetable Science; Dr K.V. Prasad and Dr Kanwar Pal Singh on Floriculture and Dr Ram Asrey on Post-harvest management) were made highlighting the need and requirement for post graduate research and following recommendation was made regarding emerging areas for PG research in the AUs/ HUs. The idea of this session to select chosen areas in the core discipline for research so as to increase the output of PG research.

Infrastructure Development: Five horticulturists presented the minimum infrastructure requirement needed for M.Sc. & Ph.D and recommendations were made.

Capacity Building and Training Needs: Training needs for faculty in horticulture were discussed in view of changing horticulture scenario and recommendations were made, such as foundation course training for teachers of SAUs, Need of inclusion of an exposure training for a month in advance laboratory outside country, Mid-level career training, training on the newer/ emerging areas of research/ advances in topics etc.

Revisiting Course Curriculum in Horticulture: To review the course content and removal of anomalies, different faculty groups were identified and courses were sent to them for their inputs. The faculty who were consulted to upgrade the courses are given in Annexure-II. After getting their inputs, these were compiled and distributed as agenda for discussion in the brainstorming meeting. Further, based on the expertise, six teams for Revisiting Course Curricula in Horticulture were constituted for different Sub-disciplines of Horticulture. They were given all the inputs received from different experts/ faculty in compiled form for further discussion and improvement. Finalized courses/ course contents were presented by the group leader in a joint session before all participants and the course content for PG programmes were then finalized. The proceeding of the Brainstorming Session have been finalized for submission and further action to the ICAR.

Dr S.K. Singh was organizing Secretary, while Dr V.B. Patel, Convener, Dr Jai Prakash and Dr Amit Goswami were co-organising Secretary and Co-Convener, respectively.