IDP, ISDJ launch "Better Reporting on Food and Agriculture" course

Hyderabad: India Data Portal (IDP), developed under the aegis of the Bharti Institute of Public Policy (BIPP), at the Indian School of Business (ISB) on Friday launched the online "Better Reporting on Food and Agriculture" course in collaboration with India Spend School of Data Journalism (ISDJ).

In a statement the ISB said that participants can log in to study offline and upon completion, secure an online certification. The food and agriculture course are free for the applicants.

With agriculture being one of the strongest pillars of the Indian economy, the sector contributes to 17% of the total GDP and provides employment to over 60% of the country's population. However, for journalists, researchers, and public policy experts, finding updated data, facts, and figures on food, agriculture and financial inclusion can be an uphill task.

The course aims to provide an understanding of the broad aspects around the state of agriculture in India, an overview of relevant food and agriculture policies in India, insight on the various initiatives introduced by the government around and supporting the agriculture activities.

Further, the course will also provide an in-depth understanding of the India Data Portal, which is a one-stop destination for open-access data on agriculture, rural development, and financial inclusion in India. Participants will be able to navigate through the portal to orient themselves to be able to read and develop unique data sets, independently. Lastly, the course will provide imperative insights on visualisations and interpreting data.

Dr Aarushi Jain, Associate Director, Bharti Institute of Public Policy, said, "We are very excited to offer the online certificate course on food and agriculture, using data and visualisation. Understanding India's food and agriculture landscape can be daunting as there is a plethora of information available in a raw and unfiltered manner. The Better Reporting on Food and Agriculture course will help journalists, researchers, students, policymakers, administrators, NGOs, and entrepreneurs get an in-depth understanding of the subject area, understand India's regulatory landscape related to agriculture and orient participants to file better visually aided stories using the India Data Portal."

This course is relevant to newsrooms, journalism, and public policy students, development sector professionals, members of the food and agriculture associations, data enthusiasts, policymakers, academia, and civil society organisations.

Interested persons can obtain further details and register themselves by visiting, https://isdj.in/course/better-reporting-on-food-and-agriculture/, it added.