Distance Agricultural Education: Perspectives In Agricultural Development In India *

Higher education is beginning to play an increasingly important role in the process of globalization, which promotes information technology development and diffusion of innovation and the ability of economics to benefit from rapid shift in production goods, services and ideas (Belfield and Levin, 2003). This is more true for Agricultural education which has encouraging internationalization project on the back drop of value addition, export potential and emerging high-tech production systems without loosing sight of the local knowledge needs and infrastructure. In fact, globalization has effected tremendous change to the character and function of education worldwide (Mone and Tan, 2004). The complexities of and interactions between local, regional and global forces are dominating education policies. In agriculture education sector these complexities have created unending demand for agricultural knowledge, skill and attitude in rural youth. Seeking education farmers and farm women adopting new knowledge, extension worker disseminating it and agricultural scientist generating and developing agricultural knowledge and technology. With ever increasing demand for higher education in agriculture and allied subjects in India, the conventional SAUs and other schools were left with inadequate resources for meeting the demand. Thus the Distance Education System shouldered the responsibility of agricultural education to some extent