Education means giving life to others, said Chancellor of Universities and Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal addressing the 38th convocation of the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) held here on Saturday. Encouraging the graduating students, Prof Lal said every moment of life should be of celebration, felicitation, love and laughter.
Quoting a phrase of J Krishnamurti that, “You have to be a light for yourself and when you are a light to yourself then you are a light to the world’, the Governor said students are beautiful because of university and they should go on making themselves more beautiful and most beautiful.
He urged upon students and scientists of OUAT to develop models that are friendly to futuristic technologies besides being appropriate to local needs. The university should promote new innovations and new startups in the agriculture sector and make consistent efforts to link the local farmers with technology, the Chancellor added.
Central Agricultural University, Imphal Chancellor Dr S Ayyappan said over 52 per cent of the population is engaged in agriculture and allied activities and the sector contributes 13 per cent to the country’s GDP.
With 2.4 per cent of the world’s land area and about 4 per cent of the earth’s fresh water resources, India sustains 18 per cent of the world’s human population and 15 per cent of livestock, he observed.
Stating about the projected food demands of the country of 350 metric tonne of food grains by 2030 and 405 metric tonne by 2050 to meet the requirements for the projected population of 1.6 billion by 2050, he said the annual post harvest losses to the extent of 6-18 per cent worth over a lakh crore rupees is need to be addressed through processing, storage, secondary agriculture, value addition, food safety and quality assurance.
Dr Ayyappan also said several tools and techniques likeBig data analytics, loT in farming, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain technology, could be deployed for smart farming. Future food production systems would need much more convergence between field crops, horticulture, livestock, fisheries, agro forestry and others in order to provide wholesome and safe food, he added.
OUAT Vice-Chancellor Dr Pawan Kumar Agrawal congratulating the students presented the achievement report and spoke about the budget and finance of the university. He said the university budget has increased from Rs 288 crore 2018-19 to Rs 327 crore in 2019-20. On the occasion, Honorary Doctorate Degree (Honoris Causa) was conferred on Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Dr PK Mishra and former Nalco CMD Er Ansuman Das.
Besides, 740 graduates, 482 post-graduates and 30 PhD students were conferred with degrees. As many as 114 gold medals were given away and several cash prizes were awarded to persons for excellence in academic and co-curricular activities.