Always be inquisitive, set high goals: Agri varsity VC to students
Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University (CSKHPAU) Vice Chancellor Naveen Kumar, in his New Year address, called upon the staff and students to set goals and try to achieve them. He called upon them to always be inquisitive to assimilate relevant knowledge to the maximum potential and compete for scholarships for their higher studies in top national and international institutions.
During his address, the VC emphasised that no one should underestimate their potential and should work to discover the potential present in the vast Himalayas in collaboration with leading international institutions.
He thanked the Central Government, state government, Indian Council of Agricultural Research and other funding agencies for their support in education, research and extension education. He informed that the NCC Directorate has sanctioned a rifle firing simulator for the university which will be installed on the campus soon.
CSKHPAU is committed to providing easy and quick access to academic records to its students and in this direction, the university has started the process of digitisation of academic records of students by adopting the process of Academic Bank of Credit (ABC) and 3,030 credit records of 1,023 students of seven undergraduate and post graduate programmes have been digitised, which will be available to the students through DigiLocker. Apart from this, Automated Permanent Account Registry (APAR) IDs of about 1,500 students have been created.
VC Kumar said the university has recommended 22 improved varieties of various crops and seven agricultural technologies for the farming community of the state and now farmers are also being encouraged to adopt natural farming. “Research efforts are underway for soil profiling at micro-level, he added. For the first time, the university scientists have synthesised of nano zinc oxide through bioanalysis of Harad (Terminalia chebula) plant. Work has been started on monitoring crop growth and development through multispectral drone-technology,” he added.
The university has successfully grown a new vegetable crop, gherkin, for further cultivation in the state. “The results of sexed sorted semen for production of female calves are correct up to 90 per cent which is considered good,” the VC said. He also called upon the scientists to increase the success rate of artificial insemination. Jattu and Matali varieties of rice and Bhoot, Sherwan and Baste varieties of barley have been registered with the PPV and FRA. He discussed digitalisation, new challenges, need for fund creation, new infrastructure etc. All the statutory officers, heads, teaching and non-teaching staff and students participated in the programme.
