Students are looking at greener careers with options like BSc Agriculture, Veterinary Sciences, Diary Farming and other courses.
This academic year, aspirants will be able to select agriculture courses via Common Entrance Test (CET) conducted by the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA). The KEA has received more than 22,000 applications for 7,000 seats from students who are interested in pursuing a career in the farm sector.
The number of applications received depicts a trend in students aspiring for careers apart from MBBS and BE courses.
Dr H V Nanjappa, registrar, University of Agriculture Sciences (UAS), Bangalore, said, “Admissions through CET 2013 is a good development as students can apply for multiple universities through a single window system.”
“Earlier, students aspiring for a career in agriculture sciences had to buy applications from individual universities for admissions. With just a single entrance test and web counselling, students can now opt for several courses,” he said.
He explained that 23.8 per cent of the seats has been reserved for agriculturists or children of farmers.
“A separate practical examination on identification of agricultural related specimens for candidates claiming seats under agriculturist quota will be conducted on the university campuses in Bangalore, Dharwad, Bagalkot, Bidar and Shimoga. The scores will be sent to KEA for the final announcement of merit list.”
Meanwhile, a senior KEA officer said, “With CET mandatory for Agriculture, Horticulture, Dairy Farming and Veterinary Sciences for the 2013-14 academic year, the applications received is thrice the number of seats and courses.”
“Due to the established procedure of the entrance test, results announcement and counselling for seat selection process, students have come forward to apply for the agri-based courses,” he said.
“The idea to include agriculture science courses in the ambit of CET was sprung by the present additional chief secretary, Kaushik Mukherjee who was the principal secretary for higher education a decade ago. It has been implemented this year and is beneficial to the student.”