The Challenge
Farming Community & Education
The farmers in many countries are uneducated and depend upon traditional myths and methods for predicting the season and cultivation. They are deprived of the benefits of modern research and technology. Failure of institutions, especially political and economic, poor governance, corruption, dysfunctional markets, profit-making behaviour of middlemen, and lack of finances with the farmers are other key factors.
Several studies reveal a direct relation between the level of a farmer's education and his productivity. Farming practices used from generation to generation cannot be used any more, as the Chinese adage from Shandong says: "Plant millet after millet and you will end by weeping."
Agriculture productivity per worker in India is just 2% compared to a farmer in the USA — primarily due to lack of education, skill, knowledge and capacity embodied in farmers. COVID-19 has pushed millions of farming households to the brink of food insecurity, making digital education more urgent than ever.
Traditional extension services use face-to-face interactions and delivery of information using SMS and mass media (Radio and TV). WDF Universe builds on this infrastructure, adding free certified online courses, video lectures, audio modules and community radio broadcasting to reach farmers in their own language.
Course Catalogue
Agriculture & Allied Subjects
Scientific cultivation methods, crop management, seed production, paddy farming, and precision agriculture techniques using IoT and UAVs.
Core SubjectCattle rearing, goat and sheep farming, chicken farming, quail rearing, and dairy milk production for sustainable rural livelihoods.
Core SubjectVegetable farming, brinjal cultivation, bottle gourd, cauliflower growing, and advanced horticultural practices for market and subsistence.
Core SubjectSilkworm rearing and silk production — a high-value livelihood activity particularly suited to rural women's empowerment programmes.
Livelihood GenerationSoilless cultivation technology for urban and peri-urban farming — enabling food production in areas with poor soil or limited space.
Future FarmingCommercial flower growing for domestic and export markets — including cut flowers, potted plants, and dry flowers for craft industries.
Allied AgricultureSustainable forest management, agroforestry, and silviculture — integrating tree cultivation with crop and livestock farming for SDG-15.
SDG-15Integrated fish and duck farming, freshwater aquaculture, and mixed fish farming — a high-protein livelihood solution for rural communities.
Core SubjectFree Certified Online Courses
Agriculture & Allied Online Courses
Scientific vegetable cultivation techniques including soil preparation, seed selection, irrigation management, pest control, and market-ready harvest practices for smallholder farmers.
Quality seed production techniques, seed certification standards, storage methods, and modern seed technology to improve agricultural yields and reduce dependence on commercial seeds.
Scientific धान की खेती — paddy cultivation techniques covering land preparation, nursery management, transplanting, water management, and integrated pest management for higher yield.
Advanced paddy cultivation — post-harvest management, storage, value-added processing, market linkages, and digital tools for precision rice farming using IoT and mobile applications.
Complete goat and sheep farming for livelihood generation — breed selection, feeding, shelter design, disease management, and marketing of meat and dairy products from small flocks.
Integrated fish and duck farming system — maximising pond productivity through symbiotic management of fish and waterfowl for higher protein yield and income per unit of water area.
Global Impact
Agriculture & SDG 2030
The global population has grown from 1.8 billion in 1915 to 7.5 billion in 2017 and will reach 9.8 billion by 2050. With 1.45 billion people in 103 countries living in poverty and 706 million in extreme poverty, agriculture is the primary lever for achieving SDG-2 Zero Hunger. WDF Universe's Knowledge Agriculture® framework and its free online courses directly address 9 of the 17 UN SDGs, with particular focus on SDG-2 (Zero Hunger), SDG-1 (No Poverty), SDG-4 (Quality Education), SDG-5 (Gender Equality), and SDG-8 (Decent Work).
The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seek to address issues relating to hunger, poverty alleviation, democratic governance and peace building, climate change and disaster risk, and economic inequality. Asia is home to 4.5 billion people, of whom 50–90% depend upon agriculture. The farming community depends on agriculture income for their livelihood. Out of a billion farmers in the world, about 95 million live in Asia and Africa — also home to 805 million hungry people (Asia: 520 million, Africa: 243 million, Latin America: 42 million). The estimated food requirement by 2050 is likely to increase by 59% to 98%. A phenomenal increase in agriculture production driven by Knowledge Agriculture® in Asian and African countries is crucial to achieve the SDGs.
Live e-Lecture
Empowering Farmers through Extension & Knowledge Dissemination
From the Chancellor
Vision for Smart Farming
Prof. Dr. Sir Hari Om Srivastava
KStJ · D.Litt · Ph.D
Our focus will be to provide food to the growing world population and remove hunger from the planet — especially in Asia and Africa — by providing knowledge and skill to farmers in starting small-scale professions such as chicken, goat, cattle farming, honeybee keeping, and vegetable farming near their dwelling to earn their livelihood.
We foresee the future of farming: a field having different types of sensors mounted on tractors, poles, drones etc., placed at strategic locations capturing data on various parameters and sending the data to the cloud. Cloud systems access the data and compute complex field maps, with the farmer receiving the information on his smart device, irrespective of his location vis-à-vis the farm.
The farmer uses DSS software available on cloud or his digital device that makes extremely precise calculation of nutrient or pesticide needs for specific plants or specific areas of the field. The farmer remotely controls UAVs, Robots, or auto-navigated tractors to spray seed or nutrients as required — resulting in lower input costs, lesser use of fertilisers or pesticides, reduced fatigue, and greater health and environment benefits.
However, this type of farming needs a massive change in R&D, development of new curriculum for agriculture colleges, and stress on education of the farming community. Our R&D team has developed resources and made them accessible in multiple languages — apart from field training.
Quick Reference
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, all Agriculture & Allied Courses on WDF Universe are completely free. They include video lectures, audio modules, and multimedia content for self-paced learning, along with an online certification examination drawn from a question bank. Courses are available in English, Hindi, Arabic, and French. Learners who pass the online exam receive a certificate from WDF Universe.
WDF Universe's Agriculture & Allied Courses cover eight subjects: Agriculture (कृषि), Animal Husbandry (पशुपालन), Horticulture (बागवानी), Sericulture (रेशम के कीड़ों का पालन), Hydroponics (बिना मिट्टी के बागवानी), Floriculture (फूलों की खेती), Forestry (वानिकी), and Aquaculture (मत्स्य पालन). Specific courses include Vegetable Farming (AV001), Modern Seed Production (AS001), Paddy Cultivation Course 1 (AP001), Paddy Cultivation Course 2 (AP002), Goat and Sheep Rearing (SG001), and Integrated Fish cum Duck Farming (SFD001).
Knowledge Agriculture® is a concept pioneered in 2018 by Prof. Dr. Sir Hari Om Srivastava — officially trademarked under Scientific & Technological Innovation by the Government of India. It integrates IoT, AI, UAVs, Robotics, Greenhouse systems, weather modelling, smart zone seeding, and fertiliser modelling to address global hunger and achieve SDG-2 Zero Hunger. All Agriculture & Allied Courses on WDF Universe are built on the Knowledge Agriculture® framework, equipping farmers with the knowledge and skill to adopt modern technological tools alongside traditional wisdom.
The courses are taught by Prof. Dr. Sir Hari Om Srivastava — KStJ, D.Litt, Ph.D, Top 10 Indian Scientist (2021), Father of Community Radio in India, and President & CEO of World Development Foundation — and co-scientist Aprajita Srivastava (Senior Technical Solutions Engineer, Databricks; formerly AWS Cloud Engineer II). Guest lectures are also featured from eminent scientists and educators including Prof. Moni of Shobhit Deemed University.
With 815 million people globally facing hunger and food requirements projected to increase by 59–98% by 2050, WDF Universe's Agriculture & Allied Courses directly address the education and skill gap that limits farmer productivity. Agriculture productivity per worker in India is just 2% compared to that in the USA — primarily due to lack of education. By providing free, multilingual, certified courses in scientific farming, seed production, aquaculture, animal husbandry, and precision agriculture, WDF Universe contributes actionably to SDG-2 Zero Hunger and also to SDGs 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 10, and 15.
The Agriculture & Allied Courses on WDF Universe are available in English, Hindi, Arabic, and French. WDF Universe's R&D team has developed course resources and made them accessible in multiple languages — in addition to field training programmes — to ensure that farmers across India, Asia, Africa, and the global diaspora can benefit from Knowledge Agriculture® education in their preferred language.
Start Learning. Start Farming Smarter.
Join thousands of farmers, students, and rural entrepreneurs learning through Knowledge Agriculture® — free, certified, and available in four languages.