Over 47 lakh hectares of land in the State are barren and it was required to revive by using modern techniques water harvesting, said Governor Shekhar Dutt during the seventh convocation ceremony of Indira Gandhi Agricultural University on Monday.

A total of 870 students received their degrees during the ceremony out of which six were awarded gold medals. While 735 received graduation degrees, 121 post-graduate and 14 received their PhD degrees.

Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Charandas Mahant, Minister for Agriculture and Animal Husbandry Brijmohan Agrawal were also present on the occasion.

While addressing the students, parents, staff and other guests, Vice-Chancellor SK Patil congratulated all the students on graduating from the institution. He said varieties like scented paddy Dubraj, Badshah Bhog, Vishnu Bhog and Javanphool are on the verge of extinction from the state. Pure varieties of these types of paddy are being distributed among the farmers by the university. Several researches are also being carried out in the state which are showing encouraging results, he said.

Dutt said 44 per cent of the State is covered with forests where some very useful floras are found. Agricultural scientists must study them and find a way to ensure that the plants of medicinal values do not face any danger in future. land is a limited natural resource and it cannot be increased, therefore it is very important that we direct our energy towards better utilisation of the land and extract maximum output without exploiting it.

Dutt said after the green revolution India has become self-sufficient in food grains and even exports the yield to other countries. On the other hand we are still dependent on other countries to meet our demands for pulses, forest produce and medicinal plants. Hence, we must focus on cultivating such plants and trees. Praising the variety produced in the state, Dutt mentioned that from lichi in Ambikapur, potato in Mainpat, coconut and spices in Bastar to green tea in Jashpur, the farmers of the state have progressed tremendously.

On the occasion, Mahant said that the agricultural students and scientist must encourage the farmers to produce quality seeds. Seeds of oil-yielding plants have to developed in the state because we are buying almost 45 percent oil from other states. He congratulated the students during the ceremony.