Should Agriculture be Taught in Schools?

Academic discipline says that one must always study to pursue something worthwhile. Now, the definition of worth can differ from person to person and place to place.

Agriculture, what we see today was not what it was some 100 years ago, or to say - even 10 years from now what we take it to be. But the question arises, if people do not consider these fields academically progressive, how are we witnessing so much development every passing day?

The size of what we see today is not enough to advocate its supremacy of agriculture being one of the best career choices for youths - because most of its untapped sectors are not brought to awareness. Through this short write-up, our idea will be not just to state if it should be taught in the school curriculum or not but also its importance.

We all know how significant is agriculture for us - especially when it is catering to sectors including healthcare, economic development, community building, environment and a lot more! This one sector’s failure could lead to a lot of disruption hence development in this regard is always necessary. For this, we need young agriculture enthusiasts who take the lead. So, should agriculture be incorporated in schools? To know this, we must delve into what we will achieve from this.

1) Industry Elevation: Today, IT and Healthcare sectors are booming along with aviation, finance, energy, entertainment etc. But do we ever think that agriculture, which is the backbone of our economy, why does it take a backseat? The answer is that there is no specific subject dedicated to it till we are in school - let’s just exclude higher education for some time. Until and unless we understand the very fact that students know where the food is coming from and what are the lags in this sector - they won’t use their intellectual power to enhance the sector with their innovative additions in future.

2) Accurate Knowledge: Just ignorantly eating fruits and vegetables advised by the community won’t help. Students should understand what particular soil is needed to grow what vegetables and the same with the technology. Most importantly, if they do not understand different varieties of fresh produce, they won’t be able to pass them on to the next generation. Even if this is not for a career, they can still have agriculture as a subject that teaches them what effort, money and resources go into food production. This will help them gain respect for the farmers and sensitivity towards food losses and wastage.

3) Beyond Marketing Claims: OK, tell us what food is Diabetic friendly? Well, we are very sure a lot of people might not have gotten this right but if you have - well, you win! Today, gluten-free diets are all around the world and are recommended by most doctors, dieticians and health coaches. But the most astonishing fact is that the world is prompting Millets - the long lost forgotten grain. Now how did Millets make a comeback? They were researched by many notable institutes such as the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) and the ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research in Telangana, India. Had these institutes been not there, we would have lost millets from our diet within the next 10-20 years.

So the answer is yes, it must be included in students’ school syllabuses! For, knowing its importance better and right when we are young will help us grow this field towards utmost success.

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