At a time when the word farming conjures up images of either farmer suicides or unpaid crop loans, here's some good news. An Agriculture student from Punjab's Lovely Professional University (LPU) has managed to bag a job offer paying he a whopping Rs 1 crore an annum with agrochemical firm Monsanto, that has been pushing sustainable farming for decades.   

Kavita Faman, who is a final-year MSc Agronomy at the Jalandhar-based varsity, cleared a test and an interview before being offered the job of Production Manager — at the equivalent of about 200,000 Canadian dollars — at their Manitoba office. Monsanto, which is in the business of producing seeds of various kinds and enhance water utilisation processes for farming was recently acquired by global pharma giant Bayer. Monsanto was founded 118 years ago and has transitioned from a chemical company into its current portfolio of products. 

"I am extremely excited to join the company and will strive to absorb as much as I can over the next few years," said Kavita, while adding, "From innovations in biotechnology to the usage of data science, the field is embracing the latest technology and is on the cusp of a technology-led disruption."

Some of the subjects covered during the two-year course are Agricultural Research Ethics, Plant Physiology, Soil Fertility, Crop Production, Genetics and Soil Science. De Ramesh Kumar, Dean, School of Agriculture, said that this is "proof" that there are massive career opportunities in agriculture for those who are willing to learn and work hard.