The International Conference on Blended Learning for Higher Education in Agriculture 2023 was held from March 21-23 as part of the National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) Resilient Agricultural Education System (RAES). A blended learning platform that focuses on improving digital infrastructure across digital agricultural higher education institutes was unveiled by ICAR and the World Bank to strengthen and develop immersive technologies such as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) experience, and virtual classrooms.
The conference was addressed by the Union Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar, who envisions that blended learning in agriculture will help India become a developed nation by 2047. He further added that agriculture, the backbone of India’s economy, can thrive with limited funding due to technology and knowledge. In line with ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’, we make policies to ensure that people at the grassroots level can benefit from them.
Dr. Himanshu Pathak, Secretary, Department of Agriculture Research and Education, and Director-General, ICAR, stressed that young people should be equipped to combat all problems.
The three-day conference centred around the thematic areas, which include strategies for blended technology learning, sustainability in the blended learning ecosystem, and contemporary curriculum for educational learning.
By Tiasola Pongen. The writer is a fourth year student under the department of Community Science in Central agricultural University, Tura Megalaya. She can be contacted at tiasolapongener12@gmail.com