In a move to revolutionise higher education in agriculture in India, the World Bank and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research have recently launched the National Agricultural Higher Education Project, an INR11 billion (US$171 million) project that will benefit all 75 agricultural universities under the research council, reports Express News Service.
“Through this project, we want to attract more talented students, competent faculty and innovative researchers into the field of agriculture,” said Narendra Singh Rathore, deputy director-general for agricultural education at the council, speaking to Express in Chennai.
The funding for the project is split into half and shared by the government of India and the World Bank. The funds will be disbursed by the council to improve infrastructure and facilities, to researchers who show academic excellence and to innovative projects that need scaling up.