Liza Pinheiro
In recent years, it has been a trend for students to join technical courses which are market driven, perceived to be offering assured employment opportunities and a handsome salary. Medicine, dentistry and engineering are the top three choices so far in Goa. Agriculture is one of those fields which offer an ample amount of scope and now we have a college of agriculture right here in Goa.
The livelihood of fish curry and rice eating Goans depends on agriculture and fisheries. We are lucky to have the first agricultural college in Goa, ie Don Bosco College of Agriculture (DBCA), Sulcorna, which was established in 2015. Surrounded by lush green fields, streams of clear running waters, bountiful plantations, mooing cattle, pigs, chirping birds and a myriad of insects, the college offers a four-year degree course leading to BSc (Agri) for enthusiastic youth.
There are a lot of misconceptions about what a BSc (Agri) degree offers. After performing well in my class 12 Science exams under the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, I opted to study agriculture instead of engineering. When it became known to people around me that I had opted for a degree in agriculture, misconceptions came to the fore. It was quite shameful. The ‘well-wishers’ asked questions like “The fields in Goa are over, why are you doing BSc in agriculture?” or “Are you going to work in the fields after completing HSSC in science?” Others advised me “There is no scope in that field”. However, I was firm with my decision. This was just noise, to be ignored.
All these myths and misconceptions were dispelled when I joined DBCA-Sulcorna. The course is hardly about taking a pick-axe and spade to work in the fields or driving a tractor! The studies include modern techniques in botany, microbiology and pathology using latest microscopes and other laboratory equipment; studying entomology to manage insects from harmful bugs to useful bees; meteorology and agricultural engineering which has both civil and mechanical components; plant sciences, animal husbandry and, most importantly, agricultural economics and entrepreneurship to be independent by starting one’s own business venture. DBCA-Sulcorna is focused on two things: organic agriculture and entrepreneurship development. Our seniors who joined college last year, have documented their progress with frequent exposure visits to farms and exhibitions. My own experience at the college proves that learning here is very interesting rather than boring. Seniors say they have not experienced a single boring day in two semesters!
India is an agriculture-based country and hence there is a lot of demand for agriculturally educated youth who are empowered with both knowledge and skills. The mindsets of people needs a revolution that agriculture is no more a low economical and low standard job but a dignified and prosperous profession. We need to erase the image of a poor, emaciated Indian farmer and replace it with one of a prosperous agricultural entrepreneur who knows how to market her/his produce, profitably.
(Writer is an FYBSc (Agri) student at Don Bosco College of Agriculture, Sulcorna)