Dr. Ranjana Tewari Displaying the True Essence of Passion and Teaching
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ove towards your passion! These are the only four words that will come to your mind after reading the following journey of Dr. Ranjana Tewari, the Head of Department of Mangalayatan University. As a way of life, her family has passed down the love for teaching generation after generation. And at present, Dr. Tewari has coupled her love for teaching with the field of agriculture. Read this educational influencer’s journey in her own words. Please introduce yourself and your journey as an educator to our readers and also tell us what inspired you to pursue agriculture studies as a career? Hello readers, I am Dr. Ranjana, a Researcher, an Educator, Plant Breeder, and Floriculturist. I am presently holding the position of Head of Department in Agriculture at Mangalayatan University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh. I graduated from GBPUAT, Pantnagar in agriculture, did my Masters and Ph. D in Genetics & Plant Breeding from AAIDU, Prayagraj, and NDUAT, Faizabad, respectively. I have also worked in CSIRNBRI, Lucknow. For the past ten years, I have been actively working in the field of research and education. Though I am a lifetime student and I always love to learn, but I enjoy teaching others, even more, it’s in the family. Getting to know all of the different kids and interacting with them. I have always loved kids, so I always enjoy that part of my job. I think every teacher wants to have a long-lasting effect on their students and live forever in the form of their teachings. I have learned that agriculture doesn’t require hundreds of books to mug up; rather, it needs passion and determination. To pursue a carrier in agriculture is not easy; one has to love the soil and nature, needs the courage to get the hands dirty for food and witness the miracle of crop life.
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It’s part of our culture and tradition achieved through hard work via uniting people. The kind of positive impact that one can make to education, society, and agriculture sector simultaneously by pursuing agriculture as a carrier fascinated me to take agriculture as a carrier. As there is no more noble task than that of being able to feed the hunger, whether it’s for food or knowledge. Pertaining to your experience of 10 years in the education sector, how, according to you, has the curriculum for agriculture studies improved over time? During the past 10 years, agricultural education has expanded rapidly and explored the new areas of agriculture and allied sectors to meet the global demand for human resources and agricultural technology. Agriculture being a professional degree, the ICAR has made it more careers oriented by curricula changes for different undergraduate and post-graduate programmes in India. The new curricula recommendation by the fifth Dean’s Committee for the undergraduate courses with the aim to produce agricultural graduates with a strong background in modern science, value-added courses and skill development courses with important features of Rural Agricultural Work Experience (RAWE) to impart practical training in farmers’ fields, Plant clinic. Agroindustrial experiences, sustainable agriculture, natural resource management, watershed management, agriculture journalism, etc. Tell us more about Mangalayatan University with regard to your department specifically. Mangalayatan University is a “Gurukul of Global Education.” Here, we work towards a fine blend of values and global professional talents in the making of leaders for the future. The Department of Agriculture was established in 2018 under the Institute of Engineering & Technology and is strengthened with
MAY | 2020