The U.N. is working with 1,000 agricultural universities around the world to introduce a new curriculum in land restoration for creating a large pool of experts in land restoration, Muralee Thummarukudy, director, G20 Global Initiative Coordination Office, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), has said.
He was addressing an interactive session on Agricultural Education and Research in Globalised World at the College of Agriculture, Kerala Agricultural University, Vellanikkara, recently.
An expert, who has implemented response projects in more than 30 countries, he explained projections using different statistical data.
“Of the 4.8 billion hectare of agricultural land, 40% is degraded and we are losing 4 million hectare of forest area out of the total 4.1 billion hectare of forestland a year. Land crisis is real. Hence the G-20 country leaders decided to find means to restore 50% of land, which is roughly about 1 billion hectare of land, by 2040. It indicates that an amount of $1.5 trillion is on the way to be invested in the restoration industry in a span of 15 years.”
Possibility for start-ups
Mr. Thummarukudi said that ‘degraded land is a land of opportunities’. Start-ups in the line of restoration were mentored by experts. He cited the example of Mashrur H. Shurid’s iPAGE from Bangladesh that has been providing advice for restoring agricultural productivity.
He stressed the need for changing the world agricultural syllabus by including Internet of Things (IoT) and AI, climate resilience, start-up culture, and socio economic elements of agriculture.
A. Sakeer Husain, Registrar, KAU, inaugurated the interactive session. During the inaugural address, Mr. Husain opined that in the face of globalisation and evident climate change, the need for knowledge documentation was never more pressing. “Agricultural education is not about imparting theory and practical knowledge, but the interplay of equality, economy and society.”
Jayasree Krishnankutty, professor and head, Department of Agricultural Extension; Mani Chellappan, Dean, College of Agriculture; and S. Sreekumaran, librarian, central library; spoke.
Graduate and postgraduate students of the KAU participated in the session.
