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Dip in applications for UG agriculture courses by 3%: MCAER
According to MCAER data, applications for applications for eight agriculture courses across the state dipped from 64,619 last year to 62,547 this year.
The number of applications for professional undergraduate (UG) agriculture courses has dipped by 3% for 2019-20, according to the Maharashtra Council for Agricultural Education Research (MCAER).
According to MCAER data, applications for applications for eight agriculture courses across the state dipped from 64,619 last year to 62,547 this year.
Experts attributed the dip to the sudden change in the admission process. The state Common Entrance Test (CET) Cell had introduced a single-window admission process for all professional courses, in which a candidate had to sign-up on a pre-admission registration portal before applying on the admission portal. However, owing to technical glitches, the cell was forced to scrap the single-window system.
“It caused confusion among students. In this process, many students lost the opportunity to seek admission. MCAER should have extended the deadline for admissions,” said SC Sable, principal, College of Agriculture, Murbad (Thane district).
On Monday, MCAER released the provisional merit list of all the candidates.
This year, most of the science professional courses in the state — including health sciences, engineering and pharmacy programmes — saw a dip in demand. Apart from the portal glitch, experts blamed the poor performance of science students in higher secondary certificate (HSC) examination and the introduction of two new quotas (16% for Marathas and 105 for economically weaker sections) for the fewer applications.
However, agriculture colleges insist their courses are still very much in demand. “Due to saturation in engineering, many students are opting for agriculture. Most agriculture graduates aspire for civil services; the banking sector also offers them many opportunities,” said Mahesh Patil, College of Agriculture, Dhule.
