Agriculture Academic Studies Scheme

What is the Agriculture Academic Studies scheme?

Agriculture Academic Studies is a scheme of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Government of Meghalaya. According to the department's scheme page on megagriculture.gov.in, its objective is the "Sponsoring of seats for 4 years degree course in Agriculture/ Horticulture", and the pattern of assistance is "Sponsorship of seat, book grant and scholarship". The type of assistance is recorded as grant in aid.

Unlike almost every other scheme the department runs, this one is not aimed at farmers. Agriculture Academic Studies is a student sponsorship scheme. The Government of Meghalaya secures seats in four-year B.Sc. Agriculture and B.Sc. Horticulture degree programmes, nominates students from the State against them, and supports those students financially while they study.

The reason is straightforward. Meghalaya needs agricultural graduates of its own to staff its Agriculture Development Officer posts, its horticulture circles, its soil laboratories and its research stations, and to work in the private agri-business sector inside the State. A student sponsored today is the extension officer a village deals with a decade later.

Who is eligible for the Agriculture Academic Studies scheme?

You can apply if:

• You have passed class 10 plus 2 in the Science stream, with Physics, Chemistry and Biology as subjects studied. This is the eligibility criterion the department publishes, in those words.
• You are a student of Meghalaya, since the State sponsors the seats and applies its own reservation policy in selection.
• You apply on the prescribed form within the advertised window.

You cannot apply if:

• You studied Commerce or Arts at class 10 plus 2, or took Science without Biology. Physics, Chemistry and Biology are all three required.
• You have not yet passed class 10 plus 2. A pending result is not a pass.
• You apply outside the advertised window or on plain paper. The department is explicit that candidates apply "in prescribed form as and when it is so advertised", which makes this scheme different from the department's farmer schemes, where plain-paper applications are the norm.
• You are seeking sponsorship for a postgraduate, diploma or non-agricultural course. The scheme covers the four-year Agriculture and Horticulture degree only.

How are students selected?

Selection is by merit and based on the State's Reservation Policy. Two things follow from that:

• Your class 10 plus 2 Science marks decide your rank. There is no published separate entrance test under this scheme head, so the marksheet is the document that carries your case.
• Category certificates matter. If you belong to a reserved category, the certificate must be attached with the application. A certificate produced after the selection list is drawn up does not help.

What documents do I need?

How to apply for the Agriculture Academic Studies scheme

1. Watch the newspapers in April and May. The department states that the advertisement "will appear during April-May in major newspaper of the State". Also check megagriculture.gov.in, where departmental notices are published.
2. Read the advertisement carefully. It carries the details the scheme page does not. The institutions, the number of seats, the closing date, the scholarship and book grant amounts, and where the form is to be submitted.
3. Collect the prescribed application form from the office named in the advertisement. Do not submit a plain-paper application for this scheme.
4. Fill the form and attach your certificates. The class 10 plus 2 marksheet and pass certificate showing Physics, Chemistry and Biology, your class 10 certificate, residence proof, category certificate if you are claiming a reserved seat, and photographs.
5. Submit the completed form before the closing date stated in the advertisement, and keep the acknowledgement. Late applications are not entertained under a merit-based selection.
6. Check the selection list when it is published, and complete the admission formalities with the sponsoring letter the department issues.

When does the cycle run?

The scheme follows the academic admission calendar rather than the financial year. The advertisement appears in April and May, selection follows over the next weeks, and the sponsored student joins the degree course for that academic session. There is no rolling window: an application filed in, say, September has nothing to attach itself to.

Students in class 12 should therefore plan around a single fact. The advertisement is likely to appear before or around the time board results come out, so keeping certified copies of your marksheet ready as soon as the result is declared saves days you may not have.

Why applications get rejected

• Biology not taken at class 10 plus 2, the most common disqualification.
• Applied on plain paper or on the previous year's form.
• Missed the closing date in the advertisement.
• Category certificate not attached while a reserved seat was claimed.
• Marksheet or residence proof missing, leaving the merit position or the domicile unverifiable.
• Merit rank below the cut-off for the seats available that year. The number of sponsored seats is small, so a valid application can still miss out.

What are the alternatives if I am not selected?

The Department of Agriculture runs several training heads that do not require a degree seat:

• Basic Agriculture Training Centre — free short-term vocational training for educated unemployed rural youth interested in starting farm-based activities, who hold owned or leased agricultural land. Apply on plain paper through the Agriculture Development Officer of your CD Block or Agriculture Circle.
• Integrated Agriculture Training Centre (IATC), a separate training head in the department's scheme list.
• Farmers Training Institute, the department's institutional training arm.
• Regional Centre for Training and Production of Mushroom. A specialised horticulture training centre.

For entrepreneurial routes, the Fruit Processing head runs training programmes aimed at fruit processing entrepreneurs, educated unemployed youth and housewives.

Whom to contact

For this scheme the department's published advice is to follow the annual advertisement. Beyond that:

• Directorate of Agriculture, Cleve Colony, Shillong 793003, phone 0364-2222460, email agri-meg[at]nic[dot]in.
• Directorate of Research, Training and Technology Induction, the department's directorate responsible for training and technology work.
• District Training Officer, Tura or Shillong, for questions about the department's training and academic programmes.
• District Agriculture Officer of your district, for local guidance on where the form is being received.

No fee is charged by the department for the application beyond what the advertisement specifies, and no agent can secure a sponsored seat, since selection is on published merit and the State's Reservation Policy.