Governor Balramji Das Tandon on Monday called upon the experts to prepare Agriculture course curricula to suit the future needs of the society which could be implemented in the Agriculture colleges.
He was addressing the eighth Convocation ceremony of the Indira Gandhi Agriculture University (IGAU) here.
Union Agriculture Minister Radhamohan Singh was the chief guest on the occasion.Earlier, IGAU Vice-Chancellor Dr S. K. Patil welcomed the gathering.
The Governor while laying stress upon the organic farming said that a road map should be prepared by which the farmers should be benefitted by adopting Bio-farming (Organic farming).
There should be minimum usage of chemical fertilisers and more usage of Bio-pesticides and organic manures, he said.
Tandon said that farmers had been facing stiff competition because of global agriculture market scenario. “It is imperative to update the knowledge of markets to the farmers.”
The products should suit the national and global markets and new opportunities should be tested. Information Technology should be used in the field of agriculture, the Governor said.
Notably, a total of 1997 students were conferred with degrees at the Convocation function. Twenty-six students were conferred with Ph.Ds and 15 meritorious students with Gold Medals.
Union Minister Radhamohan Singh expressed his satisfaction that the lone Agriculture University in Chhattisgarh had inked more than 40 MoUs with leading institutions regarding research works.
The Union Minister stressed upon the need for increasing the production of pulses and oilseeds. Under the 'Mera Gaon-Mera Gourav' Mission, Indian Council of Agriculture Research and Agriculture universities had adopted 10,000 villages.
He revealed that ‘Kisan Pratham’ scheme will also be introduced at IGAU soon. "This will act as a medium between the farmers and the farm scientists. In 2015-16, about 50,000 farmers had direct discussions with hundred leading institutes and Agriculture universities."
Chief Minister Raman Singh said that the youth who had been conferred with degrees today will enter new phase of life soon.
He appreciated that youth in Chhattisgarh had been showing a keen interest in agriculture of late.
When the entire world is running after ‘White Collar’ jobs, the youth in the State are showing interest in farm sector, he said.
Singh urged the students to help increase farm output. The seats in Engineering Colleges are going abegging but the Agriculture colleges are in great demand. One out of ten students is opting for Agriculture colleges.
He revealed that there were times when agriculture sector became stagnant. But new research had increased farm production. To increase output is a very big challenge. While remembering famous Chhattisgarh Agriculture scientist Dr R H Richaria, the Chief Minister revealed that the former had assembled 23,000 varieties of paddy Germplasm. The scenario on the agriculture front from Bijapur to Dantewada and Balrampur district had changed dramatically in recent times, the Chief Minister stated.
‘Mocho-Badi’ organic farming is a unique experiment being carried on in Dantewada district. Several steps are being undertaken in the field of Agriculture education in Chhattisgarh, he said.
In the year 2000, there was just one Agriculture college, one Animal Husbandry and one Dairy Technology college. Now there are 12 Government Colleges and two Horticulture Colleges at present. There are several private agriculture colleges also in operation. Earlier irrigation capacity was only 23 per cent and now it is 34 per cent, Singh said.
State Agriculture Minister Brijmohan Agrawal said that maximum employment is provided in the farm sector. The biggest Agriculture Museum in the entire country was inaugurated on the IGAU campus today.
Agrawal threw light upon the achievements of the Agriculture University during the past 29 years. Several Agriculture Science Centres had been opened under the jurisdiction of IGAU.
Many posts had been filled up and there was a boost provided to research work. Chhattisgarh is the only State in the entire country that provides loans up to Rs 25 lakh to Agriculture graduates to open Agriculture Science Centre, he said.
There are 500 Agriculture Science Centres in the State at present. These centres had been opened in 21 out of 27 districts with the co-operation of the Central Government, he said.
In the programme presided over by Governor Balramji Das Tandon, Union Agriculture and Farmer Welfare Minister Radhamohan Singh also inaugurated Agriculture Museum building worth Rs 4 .92 crore and commenced Agriculture Science Centre approved for Raipur district at IGAU campus.
It is noteworthy that Agriculture Museum in Raipur is the biggest in the country, whereas the Agriculture Science Centre inaugurated is the 21st centre of Chhattisgarh. For this, 50 acres of lakh has been allotted in IGAU premises, official informed.