University of Adelaide receives $1.8 Mn funding for strengthening India’s agriculture sector
The project will identify critical and emerging jobs that require advanced practices that will meet India’s emerging agricultural skills needs.
The University of Adelaide will play a leading role in strengthening India’s agriculture sector as part of a ground-breaking project which has received $1.8 million in funding from the Federal Government.
The project will identify critical and emerging jobs that require advanced practices that will meet India’s emerging agricultural skills needs. The University of Adelaide will lead a consortium of highly experienced partners from the vocational training and agriculture sectors in both countries, including Skills Impact, Central Queensland University, the National Skills Foundation of India and the Agricultural Skills Council of India.
Dr Tamara Jackson, a Senior Research Fellow with the University of Adelaide’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, is the lead researcher on the project, and said it was a great opportunity to help build the capability of India’s agriculture workforce and make valuable connections between the sectors in the two countries.
“This project will research, design and deliver pilot training products, in partnership with stakeholders from the Australian International education sector and Australian and Indian agriculture sectors,” Dr Jackson said.
“This training will help meet India’s emerging agricultural skills needs and provide connections for Australian education providers while strengthening the bilateral relationship by developing skills for a critical industry. We will explore partnerships between industry and education providers of both countries through the co-development of occupational standards for critical and emerging job roles across India’s key agriculture sub-sectors”.
Specific areas of focus will be determined based on a comprehensive scoping study across agricultural production and other related sectors. The project will run from 2023 to 2024 and is an opportunity to build connections between India and Australia’s agriculture and education sectors, through training based on Australia’s quality, regulated skills qualifications. Ultimately, benefits will flow to farmers and other parts of the agricultural value chain.
“This training will help meet India’s emerging agricultural skills needs and provide connections for Australian education providers while strengthening the bilateral relationship by developing skills for a critical industry”, said Dr Tamara Jackson
For example, Farmer Producer Organisation Saubij Mitra in West Bengal, is using new agricultural techniques and marketing arrangements to empower local communities. Twenty women’s self-help groups which belong to Saubij Mitra are growing mushrooms as an additional source of income.
The University of Adelaide’s School of Agriculture, Food and Wine is based at the University’s Waite campus. It is home to the largest concentration of agriculture and wine research and teaching expertise in the Southern Hemisphere.
The project will identify critical and emerging