IGNOU to start courses on food security in northeast
ICRTA Agartala: The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is starting special courses on sustainable agriculture and food security for northeastern India. The northeastern region, comprising eight states, covers 7.7 percent of India's geographical area but produces only 1.5 percent of the country's foodgrains. Seventy percent of the region's 40 million people depend on agriculture and allied sectors, underlining the need for special education in these fields. "As agricultural education and extension services play an important role in making agriculture an instrument of social and economic development, the extension, education, awareness and research system need to be strengthened, systematised and updated," B.S. Hansra, professor in IGNOU's school of agriculture here, told sources. IGNOU set up a national centre for open and distance learning in research and training in agriculture (ICRTA) in Tripura capital Agartala last November to develop human re...