Got
a degree in agriculture? Here's how you can plan your career!
Interested in making a career in agriculture, but not sure how
or where to start or even what your options are? Here are a few
options that you may explore! Agriculture is a vast and
diversified industry and includes all areas of farming, crops,
horticulture, floriculture, sericulture, and manufacturing of
agri-products such as all food products, cash crops and natural
fibres, as well as the new fields of agri-business. After
getting doing your B.Sc in Agriculture, you can take up a wide
variety of jobs.In the government sector, specialists in this
field can be employed by the Central and state departments of
agriculture. As agriculture is a state subject, graduates are
recruited by the Department of Agriculture in states for
development work with regard to crops, seeds, farm implements,
and extension work with farmers at the block development level.
Recruitment to these posts is through the State Public Service
Commission, and the educational requirements are a degree in
agriculture or allied fields.
However,
if you do an M.Sc in agriculture, or rural management, there are
many more career options depending on the area of specialization
in post graduation. There are job openings in organizations such
as the National Seeds Corporation, Food Corporation of India,
the Warehousing Corporation, and Fertilizer Corporation of
India, and so on. With the increasing commercialization of
agriculture, corporate houses require individuals who have done
their post graduation in agriculture and allied fields, rural
management or a combination of agriculture, economics and
management. These are essentially industries handling food
processing or marketing of agricultural products, banks,
insurance companies, and those in storage, packaging and
warehousing of agricultural products. Nationalized banks and
rural banks also hire professionals from this field. You can
also do an MBA in agri-business or rural management. With the
entry of agri-retail outlets for providing fresh farm produce to
the urban consumer, there is a need for people trained in the
handling and processing of perishables for the domestic and
export market. The growth of the agri-sector is also generating
a need for professionals providing a range of other services,
such as export and import, rural banking, credit, financing agri
projects, insurance, logistics, water management, research and
development, and rural energy. There is enough scope for
self-employment in this sector.