A cadre of natural resource economists, policy makers and administrators will be built with the help of the Team of Excellence which will periodically sharpen the issues confronting development. As a discipline, it creates knowledge base and analyses location specific natural resource problems besides developing the problem solving capabilities of researchers, NGOs, policy makers and staff of the Development Departments. The NRE and the management umbrella encompasses many topical issues to reverse the developmental destruction and improve sustainability. At present, there is a nebulous nexus of NRE in teaching, research and extension in Agricultural Universities. This hazy linkage needs to be forged to establish proper linkage for an apparent role of NRE in the academic endeavors in State Agricultural Universities

The mission of the TOE is to develop and strengthen (i) knowledge base in NRE, (ii) analytical capabilities in finding solutions to NRE problems and (iii) policy instruments to tackle NRE issues. In order to accomplish this, the teaching, research and development education activities in NRE will be undertaken. It is envisaged to initiate HRD in different fields of NRE to develop and promote syllabi, course curricula and institution building in NRE in UAS and other State Agricultural Universities. The efforts to develop teaching methods in NRE will be initiated to enable SAUs to provide platforms for effective communication and teaching the NRE. Research in NRE concepts, issues, measurements, policies and management covering historical and contemporary issues and problems in perspective will be undertaken. Efforts to gather and disseminate NRE Management and Policy research results will be made for training and extension. The regional, national and global data bank on natural resources will be developed, maintained and updated

The component of human resource development involves: (i) offering training at the masters and doctoral levels, (ii) arranging faculty exchange program for the benefit of students and faculty,and(iii) presentation of research papers in workshops / seminars / discussions / conferences for the exchange of results and comments from professional peer groups.

The project will train post graduate students in the application of natural resource economics to agriculture. These ambassadors will spread the NRE and management literacy. There will be training programs for teachers of SAU / ICAR institutions, and for policy makers in NRE approaches and methods. Faculty of SAU and ICAR institutes will have opportunities to get a professional exposition of NRE and management. The results of graduate and faculty research will be published in a book form. In addition, students and faculty will have opportunities to publish their results in a series of occasional papers. There is a dire need for incorporating NRE concepts and approaches in projects related to development. The output of the NRE center will help the policy makers to incorporate the concepts of equity and sustainability and improve their decision making capacities in addition to efficiency, in their programs and actions.

The academic gains resulting from the center will train students, faculty and policy makers in the NRE methodologies and also aid in improving syllabi and course curricula in State Agricultural Universities. The teaching and research endeavors in NRE generate knowledge base vital for extension efforts in NRE. This, in addition, is critical in providing package of practices incorporating inter alia natural resource issues, scarcity, depletion which impinge on the traditional methods having practical utility in the present agriculture such as organic farming, indicators of sustainable agricultural practices, and Sustainability - Criteria - Alternative - Matrix (SCAM) for evaluation of agricultural technologies / farming systems. These help in sustainable agricultural development programs and strategies. The sustainable methods of harvesting NTFPs, conservation of biodiversity, promotion of resources required for use in organic farming methods, estimated real values of non timber forest products, forest based medicinal plants, economics of conservation strategies, inter and intra generational equity in resource use are among the research outputs of value to the farming community and to the society at large.