On August 11, 2020, Union Minister of Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare, Narendra Singh Tomar virtually launched the Krishi Megh (National Agricultural Research & Education System -Cloud Infrastructure and Services) along with the KVC ALUNET (Krishi Vishwavidyalaya Chhatr Alumni Network) and Online Accreditation System for Higher Agricultural Educational Institutions (HEI) on the lines of the Digital India initiative.
About Krishi Megh (National Agricultural Research & Education System -Cloud Infrastructure and Services):
Set up under National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) & funded by both the Government of India (GoI) and World Bank, Krishi Megh is aimed at protecting the data of the government’s premier research body Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). It has been set up at National Academy of Agricultural Research Management (NAARM) in Hyderabad.
- Currently, the main data centre of ICAR is at the Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute (IASRI) in New Delhi.
- The data recovery centre at NAARM is synchronised with the data centre at IASRI to mitigate the risk, enhance the quality, availability and accessibility of e-governance, research, extension and education in the field of agriculture in India.
About KVC ALUNET (Krishi Vishwavidyalaya Chhatr Alumni Network):
Designed & Implemented under NAHEP, it is a “KVC Alumni Network” that acts as a medium for sharing of information or social networking among alumni of all the 74 Agricultural Universities. It also enables the alumni to assist the students in internship, placements and to provide support to their alma maters.
- It is developed by the Division of Computer Application team at ICAR-IASRI.
Online Accreditation System for Higher Agricultural Educational Institutions (HEI):
Accreditation is done to ensure the quality of higher agricultural education in Agricultural Universities and its constituent colleges under the National Agricultural Education Accreditation Board (NAEAB). In this regard, its online portal has also been launched.
About National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP):
NAHEP has been formulated by ICAR with an outlay of Rs 1100 crores for five years starting from 2017-18 on a 50:50 cost sharing basis between the World Bank and GoI. It is implemented at the Education Division, ICAR, New Delhi.
- The project aims to develop resources and mechanism for supporting infrastructure, faculty and student advancement, and to raise the standard of current agricultural education on par with the global agriculture education standards.
Recent Related News:
On July 8, 2020, As a part of the Rs 20 lakh crore “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan” announced in response to the COVID-19 crisis, the Union Cabinet has given its approval to a 10 years long (FY2020 to FY2029) pan India Central Sector Scheme namely “Agriculture Infrastructure Fund” with an outlay of Rs. 1 Lakh Crore in order to support agri-entrepreneurs, start-ups, agri-tech players and farmer groups for infrastructure and logistics facilities. Under this, the total outflow as budgetary support from Government of India (GoI) will be Rs.10,736 crore.
About Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoAFW):
Narendra Singh Tomar Constituency– Morena, Madhya Pradesh (MP)
Minister of State (MoS) for agriculture, cooperation & farmers welfare– Kailash Choudhary
MoS for agriculture & farmers welfare– Parshottambhai Rupala
About Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR):
Director General– Dr. Trilochan Mohapatra
Headquarter– New Delhi
