<div align="justify">When it comes to agriculture science, students from rural India consistently outperform their urban counterparts.<br /><br />For the past three consecutive years, the number of village-based students qualifying for the National Eligibility Test (NET) is far ahead of the number of city-based students.<br /><br />The trend is exactly the same in the Agriculture Research Service (ARS) examination, which screens junior scientists for recruitment to the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, sources told DH.<br /><br />In 2017, as many as 64% of farming students qualifying for NET are from rural India as against 36% from cities and towns. The rural-urban ratio in NET was tilted towards village boys in the previous two years, as seen from the ratio of 58: 42 in 2016 and 58.46:41.54 in 2015. There was no rural-urban distinction in the NET form prior to 2015.<br /><br />In ARS, 2016, as many as 1,691 students from rural backgrounds qualified as against 872 from urban localities. A year ago, the numbers were 1,434 (rural) and 783 (urban), respectively.<br /><br />“Those coming from villages appear to have a better knowledge of farm-related issues. They know more about crops, soil health and fertilisers,” V N Sharda, who heads the Agriculture Scientist Recruitment Board (ASRB), told DH.<br /><br />However, coming from rural areas doesn’t necessarily mean these students studied in village schools and colleges all along.<br /><br />“They may have studied in urban centres. But they go back to their native places time and again. In the examination form, there is a column to mention if they are from a village or city, which helps us keep a tab on them,” he said. <br /><br />“In states like Maharashtra, students coming from a farming family get additional advantage in the entrance. This also lures many to take up agriculture science as a career,” said C D Mayee, former chairman of ASRB. <br /><br />Those qualifying for NET are eligible for recruitment as assistant professors or lecturers in state agriculture universities.</div>
<div align="justify">When it comes to agriculture science, students from rural India consistently outperform their urban counterparts.<br /><br />For the past three consecutive years, the number of village-based students qualifying for the National Eligibility Test (NET) is far ahead of the number of city-based students.<br /><br />The trend is exactly the same in the Agriculture Research Service (ARS) examination, which screens junior scientists for recruitment to the Indian Council of Agriculture Research, sources told DH.<br /><br />In 2017, as many as 64% of farming students qualifying for NET are from rural India as against 36% from cities and towns. The rural-urban ratio in NET was tilted towards village boys in the previous two years, as seen from the ratio of 58: 42 in 2016 and 58.46:41.54 in 2015. There was no rural-urban distinction in the NET form prior to 2015.<br /><br />In ARS, 2016, as many as 1,691 students from rural backgrounds qualified as against 872 from urban localities. A year ago, the numbers were 1,434 (rural) and 783 (urban), respectively.<br /><br />“Those coming from villages appear to have a better knowledge of farm-related issues. They know more about crops, soil health and fertilisers,” V N Sharda, who heads the Agriculture Scientist Recruitment Board (ASRB), told DH.<br /><br />However, coming from rural areas doesn’t necessarily mean these students studied in village schools and colleges all along.<br /><br />“They may have studied in urban centres. But they go back to their native places time and again. In the examination form, there is a column to mention if they are from a village or city, which helps us keep a tab on them,” he said. <br /><br />“In states like Maharashtra, students coming from a farming family get additional advantage in the entrance. This also lures many to take up agriculture science as a career,” said C D Mayee, former chairman of ASRB. <br /><br />Those qualifying for NET are eligible for recruitment as assistant professors or lecturers in state agriculture universities.</div>
