Has nature always fascinated you? Is Biology your favorite subject? Are you empathetic towards farmers and do you want to do something to make a difference in their lives? Then agriculture might be your cup of tea. But that is not all that you need to know. You have to find the field of agriculture that you would like to get into.
Biology, Chemistry, and other sciences have a scope for your goal as an agriculturalist. These subjects help you to improve production processes and yields.
In the Indian economy, agriculture is one of the biggest contributors. Agriculturalists can have expertise in fields such as farming, forestry, and aquaculture. In simple words, we can say that an agriculturalist is an expert who gives advice to farmers and the forest department in particular, a person who cultivates and helps to grow crops. More than an educational background, agriculturalists need to have proper experience in their field.
How to Become an Agriculturalist?
Two of the Common Fields of Agriculture are
It is said that agriculture holds the key to India's future. There are many career options in agriculture because it is the largest industry in India. There are two common fields of agriculture, which are-
Aimal subjects such as genetics, zoology, and wildlife management
Crop matters such as soil science, field and pasture sciences, and botany
Eligibility to become an Agriculturalist
For B.Sc./B.Tech: 10+2 or equivalent with Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and English.
For M.Sc./M.Tech: Candidates should complete their Bachelor's Degree from a recognized university, with Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and English.
How to qualify for becoming an agriculturalist?
Complete courses in any relevant science such as Economics, Biology, and engineering to become Scientific Agriculturalist.
If you like to work with animals or plants select agricultural jobs like farming or animal science.
If you are interested in teaching or working with the public, choose jobs such as agriculture teachers in schools, extension officers, and agricultural consultants. To become an agriculturist in the teaching profession, often a person needs a teaching certificate or degree, depending on the regional and local regulations.
To become an agriculturist who specializes in environmental protection, you should study sciences, such as chemistry, wildlife management, and pasture science. The work of environmental agriculturalists is to address the problems of agricultural run-off and groundwater contamination and rely on their education in the sciences to help them understand environmental problems.
In order to be an agriculturist to educate landowners, farm laborers, and aquaculture workers one must possess strong people skills. Then you should take supervisory courses to learn communication skills. There are also courses such as speech course and a written communication course, such as technical writing.
Is a certificate required to become an agriculturalist ?
In such profession, experience has a greater value than educational background. Even farm workers can rise to the level of supervisory agriculturalist or agriculturalist technician.
Basics to follow to become an Agriculturalist :
Find the field that you want to specialise in agriculture
Get some practical ideas by making field visits
Talk to farmers and understand ground reality
Take interest in Geography and study about the land and soil types. Focus on other subjects such as Biology and Chemistry
Find out the challenges involved in agriculture and try to devise solutions
G.B.Pant University of Agriculture & Technology, Pantnagar
Indira Gandhi Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Raipur
Skills to Become an Agriculturalist
In order to understand Agricultural Science well and imagine the future in it, it is necessary to have the following skills:
Time Management and Organisation skills
Adaptability skill
Great communication skill
Team Management skill
New technological awareness
Mechanical and repair skill
Interpersonal skills to communicate with customers
Job roles and salary of an Agriculturalist
An Agronomist can earn average INR 5,00,000 annually An Agriculture Specialist can earn upto INR 3,80,000 yearly An Operations Manager can earn upto INR 1,100,000 annually A Farm Manager can earn upto INR 5,44,333 annually A Research Scientist can earn upto INR 9,30,552 annually A Data Analyst can earn upto INR 4,00,000 annually A Accountant can earn upto INR 3,03,391 annually An Agricultural Operations Manager can earn upto INR 7,00,000 annually An Agronomy Sales Manager can earn upto INR 5,00,000 annually A Food Scientist can earn upto INR 3,90,000 annually An Agricultural Engineer can earn upto INR 2,80,000 annually
After all, everybody gets to eat and humans cannot survive without agriculture. So get on the field and start doing your bit of satisfying deed for mankind by becoming an agriculturalist.