University of Petroleum & Energy Studies to Set Up 'School of Smart Agriculture'

Good news for students who want to pursue a career in agriculture. Soon, the University of Petroleum and Energy Studies also known as UPES will start a “School of Smart Agriculture” at its campus located in Dehradun, Uttarakhand.

Speaking to media, Vice-Chancellor of UPES Deependra Kumar Jha said that futuristic education in agriculture will need undivided focus as well as commitment, from teaching & learning perspective. And the University is uniquely positioned to focus on convergence of advanced technologies like AI, IoT, Big Data, unmanned aerial vehicles & GPS with existing agricultural practices to create a new offering.

He said, “Use of technology in agriculture has become essential to improve crop productivity in an environmentally sustainable manner. And this will be the focus at the proposed school as UPES already has knowledge and it runs courses in all these technologies through its School of Computer Studies & School of Engineering. This expertise & infrastructure would be suitably leveraged for application in agricultural studies".

In the beginning, the school will offer B.Sc (Hons) in Agriculture, B.Tech (Food Technology) & M.Sc (Agri-Agronomy).

The VC said that “the world food demand is likely to double by 2050 & it is projected that with business as usual, in the face of declining resources, intensifying volatilities of climate change & markets, only 59% of India’s total demand for food & agricultural products would be met by 2030.

He added that use of technology in agriculture - from production to processing to logistics, will turn into a norm in the near future. This will result in demand for skilled professionals in the field. It must be noted that Food Processing is one of the 25 focus sector of Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.