Virtual University for Agrarian Prosperity

An E-Learning Initiative

Prof. Ram Takwale

Chairman, National Assessment and Accreditation Council

Abstract

This paper proposes a model for virtual university aimed at bringing agrarian

prosperity to India. The virtual university is expected to build self-sustainable e-

learning model to achieve agriculture prosperity based on M. S. Swaminathan‟s

four pillars of agrarian prosperity, namely, productivity, quality, profitability and

sustainability. The virtual university has been first proposed for Maharashtra based

on the initiative taken by Government of Maharashtra.

Introduction

Virtual University is a fairly new concept of forming a consortium of all the

interested partner institutions with a view to pooling their best expertise, resources

and facilities for developing agrarian prosperity. The objective is to help farmers

and villagers though farm specific, need based, demand driven and Just-In-

Time Education and knowledge; and mobilize the farmers in such a way that

farmer groups use it in a self-directed and self-sustainable way; and follow a path

towards their continuous agrarian development and progress. This type of

partnership formed for achieving goals and objects of the university is possible

only when broadband Internet is used extensively and farmers and their groups

are enabled to use IT tools, appliances and techniques that enable and help

them in using knowledge resources in their functionalities related to agriculture.

This is a great task and challenge. This is a new way of building development-

centric organization to face the challenges of globalization and localization, by

making quality of agriculture products and services a central theme of the

development. The university is expected to build self-sustainable E-Learning

model to achieve agrarian prosperity on the basis of M.S. Swaminathan‟s Four

Pillars of Agrarian Prosperity, namely, productivity, quality, profitability and

sustainability.

Department of Agriculture, Maharashtra State is taking lead in establishing a

Virtual University ( which is also named as MAHA-AGRINET ) having existence with

vested interests created through the partnership of all the stakeholders- the

farmers, peoples‟ local institutions, public and private institutions and

organizations who provide knowledge, expertise and services to farmers and

villagers. The Virtual University for Maharashtra‟s Agrarian Prosperity VUMAP will

be accountable to all the stakeholders. Keeping E-Learning for Life Long

Learning farmer groups at the center stage VUMAP will evolve itself as a new 21st

Century Organization appropriate for the emerging knowledge society.

The success of the virtual university is dependent on the ICT Infrastructure

University develops with latest technologies, the use of IT tools and techniques for

the village and farm level functionaries, management of continuous information

and knowledge flows through the university network, and successful mobilization

and development of life-long-learning (L3) farmer groups and learning

communities with specific developmental interests.

Knowledge is going to play a dominating role in all the developments leading

towards agrarian prosperity of Maharashtra. Learning is going to be the path, E-

Learning is going to be the medium and linking learning with living-working-

developing continuously is going to be the way of life.

Need of VUMAP

First time in the knowledge history, by taking the revolutionary break from the

typical charity approach of the knowledge extension i.e. instead of transfer of

knowledge or transfer of technologies to the masses; VUMAP is seeking

participation of masses. We see the great possibility and the urge for meaningful

dialogue and effective fast networking of thousands of interested, experienced

and knowledgeable persons spread in thousands of villages in the state through

E-Learning process.

VUMAP will encourage and excite both the scientists and masses to work with

the perfect understanding of the strengths of each other because development

of appropriate technology is a gigantic job of unconditioned collective

intelligence. The participation of people reduces the costs of R&D, further

dramatically reduces economical, social and political costs, and ensures the

replicability and convertibility into people‟s demands and will. The indigenous

technology and knowledge thus developed will be more productive, profitable,

sustainable and of quality.

The Concept of a Virtual University

The concept and model of the Virtual University proposed by the

Commonwealth Of Learning is,

“The concept of a virtual university is of a consortium of institutions, enabled by

appropriate ICT applications, working together in practical ways to plan

programs, develop the required content and ensure the delivery of those

programs, content and support services to learners.”

The virtual university is not being proposed as a university in the conventional

single institutional sense. It will, in fact, be a “Virtual Organization” which will

manage a consortium of institutions.

The Virtual University for Maharashtra Agrarian Prosperity - VUMAP will be a

virtually functioning organization, and will be a coalition of International and

national resource institutions, Government departments, State Agriculture

Universities, Open Universities, Research & development institutions, Non

Governmental organizations, Crop growers associations, private sector

companies, scientists, experts, traders, service providers , farmers and

communities with a prime objective of „Sustainable Agriculture & Rural

Development (SARD)‟ leading to Maharashtra‟s Agrarian Prosperity.

Figure 1. The VUMAP Model

Goals and Objectives of VUMAP

The goal and objects of the Virtual University for Maharashtra Agrarian Prosperity

are as follows:

Goals - The goal of the VUMAP is to develop and establish, by employing the

latest Information Communication Technologies the infrastructure, processes and

management that will help mobilize farming and rural families for knowledge-

based development and progress of Maharashtra‟s agriculture leading to

sustainable agrarian prosperity.

The goal is to ultimately lead to empower people of rural Maharashtra to make

better choices and have better control over their own development.

Objectives - Along with this, the VUMAP will pursue threefold objective:

1. E-Learning Network :

Establish and sustain a virtual network of farm communities, voluntary and

public organization/institutions, service providers, policy makers,

researchers and educators that would work for agrarian prosperity of

Maharashtra.

2. E-Learning Process:

Educate and train wide variety of stakeholders in knowledge-based

development of agriculture and related services that would lead to all-

round development of rural people.

3. Content for E-Learning:

Establish a knowledge grid to generate and communicate timely

information to farmers and villagers, and their various interest groups for

their self-directed and sustainable development.

Working Model of the VUMAP

Many of the stakeholders identified as coalition partners in VUMAP are currently

extending their institutional reach to their target groups and sharing the

knowledge they have with these people. However their efforts and effectiveness

is highly limited and localized and cannot be extended to all with the present

structures and practices. Application of ICT enables these institutions in

networking with the target groups thereby making their localized efforts

globalized, by integrating their expertise and efforts and by raising quality of their

offerings.

The VUMAP will strengthen the National Agricultural Research and Extension

Systems (NARES), by extending outreach of various institutions and organization

involved in agricultural extension to all the rural people particularly the

underprivileged by adopting right policies and practices. The adoption and

percolation of E-Learning model will depend essentially on availability of

infrastructure, skilled human resources, financial and technological support

extended to the entrepreneurs and local leaders at village level. A lot of

capacity building is therefore needed before we expect encouraging results.

The task is so gigantic that resources of the State will never be adequate; and

hence participative and cooperative efforts involving all the institutions and

organizations deeply interested in agriculture development are to be integrated

appropriately for achieving the capacity building and empowerment of farmers

for achieving agrarian prosperity.

The VUMAP is, therefore, proposed as a highly collaborative, flexible and open-

ended organization, in which all like minded institutions and individuals join

hands, share common resources for mutual benefit and move towards the

common objective of Maharashtra‟s Agrarian Prosperity. ICT will play a major

role in functioning and management of VUMAP. The virtual university will carry

out its functions by optimizing ICT applications, particularly those that enable the

creation and deployment of content databases and services based on domain

knowledge and expertise of the partner institutions.

For all the coalition partners, VUMAP will provide a virtual platform, to offer and

deliver the educational courses and developmental services, to share the

knowledge resources they have with the learners/users, to render essential

provisions and services to the users as well as to promote the activities to mobilize

people. The virtual university will also be concerned as much with “adding

value” to conventional on-going activities of the institutions as it is concerned

with serving farmers and villagers at a distance.

VUMAP Partnership Model is shown in Figure 2 as a block diagram indicating

partnership /consortium of organizations and institutions for extending content

and services to the target groups.

Target Groups and their mobilization

The target groups of VUMAP are as follows,

1. Primary target groups

Farmers, villagers and citizens in general

Rural women and children

Entrepreneurs / Agro-businesses

Local climate monitors, Rural Development workers, local service

providers

Farmer associations / Local institutions

Self Help Groups / Special Interest groups

2. Secondary target groups

Knowledge generators / Universities

Policy makers, State and district Govt. officials and staff

Rural Development Managers

Research institutions

Financial institutions

Agriculture produce market committees

Private sector companies

The target groups differ in numbers, interests, socio-economic status and

intellectual capabilities. Hence the requirements and demands may vary from

individual to individual. These groups should be given some mechanism to build

their capacity in order to experiment and explore new technologies and tools for

their benefit.

It should be noted that integration of efforts and experiences of partners, who

are using conventional methods and models, is possible only by employing latest

ICT. Development of electronic networking along with grid network, use of open

and distance education (ODE) and use of ICT based personalized tools and

techniques have the capability of achieving new paradigms of education and

development, not possible earlier, with features like mass-personalization,

group/community localization, just-in-time education and services and access

and success to all. The structure and functions of VUMAP are very much

dependent on the use of E-Learning model, which itself is changing fast,

undergoing technology integration.

Professor Ram Takwale

Professor Ram Takwale is presently the Chairman of National Assessment and

Accreditation Council (NAAC) and Emeritus Professor of Pune University. He has been the

Vice Chancellor of Pune University, Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University

(YCMOU) and Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). He was President of the

Association of Indian Universities. He has been advisor to the ETH Research Lab on e-

Learning and ETH Mission.