HYDERABAD: At a time when scores of unemployed youth in the state are struggling hard to find a job, the agriculture and horticulture department is finding it hard to get qualified candidates. Explaining about the huge number of opportunities available in these two fields, Pidigam Saidaiah, assistant professor, Sri Konda Laxman Telangana State Horticultural University, says that the government needs to create more awareness about the opportunities available in these sectors so that more and more youth take up these courses. Here are excerpts from the interview:
What is the demand for agriculture and horticulture courses in the state?
There are hardly a few hundred seats in the state, so there is no problem in filling those seats. However, we need at least 12,000 qualified experts to advise farmers and we are nowhere near that number.
What should be done to attract more students?
First, the government should print pamphlets and circulate them in rural areas saying that what they have learnt till now in an informal way will be taught in a formal way at university and that job opportunities are plenty. Second, they should make sure that all graduates in these fields take up research so that we can get the required number of teachers in colleges.
What are the job opportunities for students if they take up these courses?
Telangana is the seed bowl of the country and the opportunities here are endless. We have 33 lakh hectares of land and to monitor that we need at least 12,000 agriculture officers. Going by the rate at which students are graduating, there will always be vacancies in the government sector.