Agri-preneurs focus of next 5-year plan

CHENNAI: With the Twelfth Five Year Plan coming up, the focus will be on secondary agricultural activities, Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Dr S Ayyapan said here on Saturday.He was speaking at the inauguration of a girl’s hostel at the Institute of Food and Dairy Development belonging to the Tamil Nadu University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences.He told reporters that so far the focus had been on primary agricultural practices, and what the industry requires is value addition to agricultural products, facilities for primary processing and stress management in agriculture. Ayyapan expressed his concern about students who complete agricultural courses but do not go back to the rural areas. “Rural awareness work experience should be made compulsory for students,” he said. “The government wants to produce agri-preneurs. With this in mind, they are spending nearly `8-10 lakh per bachelor degree student, `12-15 lakh for a post graduate, and `20 lakh for those doing their PhD,” Ayyapan  added.Another aspect is the fact that the country is facing a manpower shortage in agriculture, dairy and related fields. With veterinary science, dairy science and agricultural science facing the worst manpower crunch, Ayyapan said that ICAR is taking up the concept of ‘Farmer First’ and ‘Student Ready’ to bridge the gap between education and industry requirements.