Having been a product of Agricultural University, I understand and empathize with the leaders of the universities about the problems they face. However, let us accept that the standards that were set decades ago can indeed be surpassed if only we would challenge the students to bring out the best in them. My one line summary of the problem is that we are not challenging the future leaders of our discipline strongly enough. Is it because rise in their expectations will create a stress on us or is it that we have learnt to be helpless? Isn’t it ironic that in almost no agricultural university, a graduate or postgraduate is not required to take any course in entrepreneurship? The universities seem to be locked up in the paradigm of seventies.

Gupta, Anil K.

English

Research Papers in Economics

  INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 
AHMEDABAD y  INDIA 
Research and Publications 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Agricultural Education for Entrepreneurship, Excellence  
and Environmental Sustainability:   
Agenda for Innovation and Change 
 
Anil K. Gupta 
 
W.P. No.2007-07-04 
July 2007 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The main objective of the working paper series of the IIMA is to help faculty members, 
research staff and doctoral students to speedily share their research findings with professional 
colleagues and test their research findings at the pre-publication stage. IIMA is committed to 
maintain academic freedom. The opinion(s), view(s) and conclusion(s) expressed in the 
working paper are those of the authors and not that of IIMA. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT 
AHMEDABAD-380 015 
INDIA   IIMA  y  INDIA 
Research and Publications 
 
 
 
Page No. 1  W.P.  No.  2007-07-04 
 
 
Agricultural Education for Entrepreneurship, Excellence and 
Environmental Sustainability:   
Agenda for Innovation and Change 
 
 
 
Abstract 
 
Having been a product of Agricultural University, I understand and empathize 
with the leaders of the universities about the problems they face.   However, let 
us accept that the standards that were set decades ago can indeed be surpassed 
if only we would challenge the students to bring out the best in them.   My one 
line summary of the problem is that we are not challenging the future leaders of 
our discipline strongly enough.   Is it because rise in their expectations will 
create a stress on us or is it that we have learnt to be helpless? 
 
Isn’t it ironic that in almost no agricultural university, a graduate or 
postgraduate is not required to take any course in entrepreneurship?  The 
universities seem to be locked up in the paradigm of seventies.    IIMA  y  INDIA 
Research and Publications 
 
 
 
Page No. 2  W.P.  No.  2007-07-04 
                                                
 
Agricultural Education for Entrepreneurship, Excellence and 
Environmental Sustainability: 
Agenda for Innovation and Change
1
 
 
Anil K Gupta
2
 
Having been a product of Agricultural University, I understand and empathize with the 
leaders of the universities about the problems they face.   However, let us accept that the 
standards that were set decades ago can indeed be surpassed if only we would challenge 
the students to bring out the best in them.   My one line summary of the problem is that 
we are not challenging the future leaders of our discipline strongly enough.   Is it because 
rise in their expectations will create a stress on us or is it that we have learnt to be 
helpless? 
 
I remember in this very university in early 70s, five head of the departments, and scores 
of M.Sc., and Ph.D students will not only attend a one credit course seminar, but also grill 
the student hard.   There was no way a student could be under prepared.   Likewise, the 
assignments would not only be graded but also shared so that quality benchmarks were 
created through peer appreciation and acknowledgement.   There were teachers who used 
out of date notes but such teachers were few.   Majority of the teachers not only updated 
their syllabus but also created enough pressure on the students to be on the edge.     
However, the fact is that there was a wide range of commitment among students as well 
 
1 Lecture delivered at the IAUA Convention on “Quality of Agricultural Education in the context of 
National and International Commitments,” on 12
th January 2005 at the Directorate of Extension Education, 
CCS Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar 125 004 
2 K.L.Chair Professor of Entrepreneurship, Indian Institute of Management,  Ahmedabad 380015, Gujarat,  
http://www.iimahd.ernet.in/~anilg/  ;   http://www.sristi.org  
http://www.gian.org ;  http://www.nifindia.org ;  www.Indiainnovates.com 
   IIMA  y  INDIA 
Research and Publications 
 
 
 
Page No. 3  W.P.  No.  2007-07-04 
as faculty but the modal values were reasonably high.   Coming from an Institute where 
we get students from various agricultural universities, I do not think that standards of the 
top quality students are any different from what these were decades ago.  If anything, the 
students are better read.   But commitment has certainly become more fluid. 
 
I wish to focus on certain practical steps that can revitalize the educational system and 
institutionalize pursuit of excellence, social commitment and entrepreneurship.   
 
1.  Education for Entrepreneurship:   The fact that most universities do not have 
short, medium and long term programme for entrepreneurship indicates how much 
out of touch we are with the realities of our society.  This inadequacy must be 
overcome urgently and existing undergraduate programmes for agriculture and 
other disciplines must incorporate content for business development, market 
research and financial management as optional stream.   Every student must have 
a chance to take one of the three streams, entrepreneurial, extension and research 
and development.   The extension may include work with NGOs, international 
agencies and cooperatives.    
 
2.  Education for Sustainability:  In a study of postgraduate thesis from two dozen 
colleges and universities in five disciplines in 1984, I had asked a question, 
“Whether we were building the skills that would be needed in 2004?”   For 
instance, in agronomy, three fourth of the thesis were on fertilizer and 90 per cent 
of these dealt with chemical fertilizer.   Only four per cent theses dealt with 
conjunctive use of organic and chemical fertilizer.   Similarly, the thesis which 
looked at the problem of crop, livestock, tree and tool interactions  were  rare.     IIMA  y  INDIA 
Research and Publications 
 
 
 
Page No. 4  W.P.  No.  2007-07-04 
Inter-disciplinary research was almost conspicuous by absence.   A student from 
agricultural college could not take courses in veterinary, animal science, 
agricultural engineering or home science college.   The situation might not have 
changed a great deal.    
 
3.  Exchange Programme: We need to develop exchange programme among 
agricultural and other universities so that students could take courses not only 
within the campus but also across the campus within India and outside the country 
for a term or two.  IIMA has such exchange programme with 36 international 
universities in 21 countries.   Why couldn’t similar arrangements be developed in 
agricultural universities?  Internationalisation of agricultural education and 
research is long overdue.  We need to increase the quota for international students 
on priority so that the cosmopolitan outlook of the campus improves the 
educational environment also. 
 
4.  Education for emerging markets:  Every student of agriculture knows that when 
economy grows and incomes increase, the proportion of processed food in the 
consumption basket increases.  How many universities have full-fledged food 
processing departments and educational programmes?  Why should there be such 
a lag in the need in the market place and the responsiveness of the agricultural 
universities?   The germplasm in our national, regional and state level gene banks 
has not been characterized for food and agro processing purposes.  There is a 
tremendous opportunity waiting to be tapped and educational reforms are urgently 
needed.   Likewise, programmes in ICT applications in agriculture are offered at 
Gandhinagar or other ICT institutions but seldom in agricultural universities.       IIMA  y  INDIA 
Research and Publications 
 
 
 
Page No. 5  W.P.  No.  2007-07-04 
This is something where partnership with ICT companies could be an easy option 
for making up the inadequacy without much extra investment or even time delay. 
What is required is an openness of mind and concern for the emerging 
opportunities for our students not just in India but internationally. 
 
5.  Education for professional farmers:  Given the increase in knowledge intensity of 
agriculture, the earlier trend of young people leaving agriculture to old people is 
changing in at least some parts of the country.   However, agricultural universities 
offer little to these returnee graduates or other such professionals who want to 
pursue part time farming.  The folk high schools of Denmark inspired Gandhiji to 
set up Vidhyapiths in Gujarat.  Perhaps we need a mission of agricultural 
university leaders to go around the world, study the systems of education for full 
time or part time farmers and develop a niche here.  
 
6.  Education for Executives:  The executive development programmes are also 
missing from the radar of agricultural universities.   These progammes could not 
only generate revenue but also make the faculty more focused in their research 
and teaching because the feedback from these programmes would be immediate 
and precise.    
 
7.  Education for Voluntary Sector:  There has been an upsurge of voluntary 
organizations in the last two decades funded locally as well as internationally.    
Do we teach courses on management of non-profit sector?    
   IIMA  y  INDIA 
Research and Publications 
 
 
 
Page No. 6  W.P.  No.  2007-07-04 
8.  Education for Human Values and Ethical Conduct:  It is true that values cannot be 
taught and ethics cannot be inducted.   And yet, many leading institutions around 
the world realize that the ethical compass needs recalibration.   Issue is not to deal 
with right, the challenge is to learn deal with wrong.    
 
9.  Reforms in Educational Process:  Even after teaching for 24 years at IIMA, I still 
have to prove myself in every class every year.   The feedback of the students 
collected by the students goes to everybody in the Institute and one knows where 
one stands.   Even otherwise, a teacher always knows whether a class went off 
well or not.   Do we want to be accountable to the students?   Should pressure 
from the peers influence whether or not I should teach a course?  If feedback is 
consistently unsatisfactory, are there any implications?   These are difficult 
questions but answers are simple.   If we want quality, we listen to those for whom 
we work.   What is the role alumni have to play in building capacity of the 
educational institutions?  How many distinguished alumni have been invited from 
different disciplines in various colleges to organize workshops or take classes so 
far?   If not, doesn’t it provide answer enough about what is the root of the 
problem?    
 
There are many other areas where reforms are needed and urgently so.   Educational 
system has to keep pace with changing realities not just in India but also 
internationally.   The exposure to issues in IPR, agricultural health interface, disaster 
management, etc., needs considerable attention.    The innovations at the farmers level 
have remained ignored to a very great extent.   There are not many research   IIMA  y  INDIA 
Research and Publications 
 
 
 
Page No. 7  W.P.  No.  2007-07-04 
programmes building upon the genius at the grassroots.   How many such innovators 
have been invited to the classroom in various universities in the last decade or so? 
 
I am sure if the questions that I have raised seem pertinent, the answers will not be 
difficult to find.   The problem is that many of you may not agree with the relevance 
of these questions.  To that extent, we have a dialogue to pursue. 
 

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