At every Convocation of an agricultural university, some noble thoughts are expounded on how graduates should break new ground , both literally and metaphorically, and the importance of making the move from being ‘service seekers’ to service providers. The virtues of working, ‘hand –in –hand’ with the farmers are extolled. Ancient texts are quoted to illustrate how the production of seed and grain is the foundation of all prosperity .They are told (especially in west Bengal) on how important agriculture and rural development was to Rabindranath, and how he had organised a faculty for agriculture at Shanti Niketan .Paeans are sung in honour of Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose and how his work as a plant physiologist was more significant and everlasting than his works in physics. He was the pioneer who first pointed out that there are no water tight compartments between the organic and the inorganic world!
However, the big problem with agriculture universities in India today is that rather than bridging the gaps between disciplines, and get an integrated and holistic picture of soils, seeds, inputs and livestock , departments and universities are getting fragmented . Rather than have a common graduate programme in agriculture, with some specialization in the final year with focus on agriculture, horticulture, social forestry and plantation crops, universities are now offering specialized courses in each of the above. This system perhaps makes sense in the developed countries where the distinction between agriculture and industry has all, but disappeared. Even in these countries, the industry –led education system tries to make optimal use of common resources and infrastructure. However, it can be argued that in the US, and increasingly in Europe, agriculture is being done along corporate lines, and therefore the super specialization makes sense. Not so in our country, for we have a hundred and twenty five million farmers, and each one of them has a mind of his/her own.
This is at odds with the way farmers in India organise their agriculture. A typical farmer in India has a few cattle, some poultry birds, a few fruit trees and some plots devoted to vegetables with the bulk of the land devoted to production of cereals. The ‘education system’ on the other hand is producing specialists to take care of each of these sectors – but who will ensure the integration. Unfortunately, even in the government, the sectors have been broken into separate ministries and directorates, and therefore the scourge of tunnel vision gets perpetuated. Of late the trend has been to start universities or campuses dedicated to horticulture or social forestry. This affects the integration across sectors. Take for example, the establishment of separate universities of veterinary and fishery sciences, and exclusive campus for study of medicinal plants or horticultural crops, the cross learning that was possible between the livestock and crop production system has suffered a major setback. There is need to reverse this decision immediately and also to stop establishment of specialized institutions for undergraduate studies. Rather the need is for greater integration, and here is a practical suggestion that Indian Council for Agricultural Research(ICAR) , Department of Ayurveda, Unani , Siddha and Homeopathy(AYUSH), National Medicinal Plants Board (NMPB) and the Planning Commission may like to take up in the near future.
AgriMatters suggests that even as many Agricultural universities are taking up research projects on the cultivation of medicinal plants in different agro climatic regions, and also validating their impact on plant, animal and human health systems, the research output is limited to a few technical papers, which may win accolade for the author(s) and help them to make the next higher grade, what is the impact on production volumes, farmers’ income, and the availability of ‘cultivated varieties’ for the Ayurveda pharma industry. Would it not make sense to have the National and State Medicinal Plants Board support filed trials, seed cultivation, tissue culture labs and production protocols for the districts which comprise the ‘research zone’ of the university. The Department of Ayurveda should also take the lead and encourage the agricultural colleges to establish departments of Ayurveda, Naturopathy and Unani systems of medicine and offer graduate courses in these subjects. This will make the campus more vibrant and diverse – and the healing properties of plants can be empirically verified. As it is the agricultural universities are well spread out, and have the physical space to construct additional hostels and reference hospital. The Library, Laboratories and classroom infrastructure exists, and can be upgraded. It definitely makes more sense to strengthen the existing infrastructure, than build new campuses, or specialized universities for Ayurveda medicine.
When this was suggested to the Deputy Director General (education) of the ICAR, Dr Tiwari, who gave the Convocation address at the Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidalaya at Cooch Behar on 6th may, he was quite enthused by the suggestion, but also admitted that the implementation part will not be easy. We have been so conditioned to think only in terms of our own ‘silo’ that we find it difficult to connect. AYUSH will probably think that the agricultural department is meddling in their turf, and the Medicinal Plants Board is happier promoting contract cultivation to meet the needs of the Ayurveda pharma industry, including the export markets. Working with the university system will call for a different set of skills – it cannot be in a ‘patronage dispensation mode’ with respect to the university authorities. The researcher will ask questions about the veracity of the claims, and there may be some changes in the effect of plants because of he way they are produced, and also because there have been so many changes in the human ecology from the times the texts were written and their application in a post industrial society today.
However, all new ideas start like this. What seems ‘impossible’ starts looking ‘difficult’ but ‘desirable’. Then it becomes a problem to be resolved. Then issues get addressed. At some point of time, the idea becomes acceptable, and things start moving. AgriMatters, as usual hopes for the best!