Mingle with farmers to know problems, Guv tells students

Tirupati: The agriculture students should know the practical problems of farmers and farming methods in rural areas by mingling with the peasants then it is possible to overcome the hurdles in farming which can help in increasing crop yield to meet the requirement, said Governor Biswabhusan Harichandan while addressing in virtual mode from Raj Bhavan at the 51st convocation of Acharya NG Ranga Agriculture University (ANGRAU) held at Mahati Auditorium in Tirupati on Friday.

The Governor said the students should have frequent camps to rural areas to know the problems of farmers in field level and asserted that the farmers are nothing but practical teachers, who can give direct knowledge to the students. Vice Chancellor Aadala Vishnuvardhan Reddy presented Honoris Causa to National Rainfed Area Authority (NRAA) CEO Ashok Dalwai, who attended as chief guest.

Addressing the students, Ashok Dalwai advised the students to respect their parents and teachers from primary to university-level and added agriculture researchers and students should focus on food scarcity as the population has been increasing manifold but the grains production considerably decreasing which will not coup with the requirement by 2050.

He wanted the students to find ways in increasing yield by inventing new varieties of seeds and new methods to tackle the problems of farmers.

Hailing the efforts of ANGRAU, he said the research on various issues including invention of high yielding varieties of variAous crops, eradicating pest menace and increasing soil fertility through organic farming kept the university in 11th position among 74 Agriculture Universities in the country.

Vice Chancellor A Vishnuvardan Reddy expressed his immense happiness on university's progress in both academic and research fields and sought the students to think with creativity in finding solution for problems arises in farming. About 665 students including PhD, PG, UG including B Tech Agriculture, BSc Home Science and 30 gold medals were awarded to the students who excelled in their concerned subjects.

ANGRAU board of management members CH Srinivasa Rao, V Srinivasa Rao, Jaagarlamudi Lakshmi, Lakka Vijaya Bhaskar, K Sanjeevaiah, TV Muralinatha Reddy, M Kasturi, P Devullu, B Srinivasa Rao, P Venkata Rama Muni Reddy, C Ramamohan Reddy, Registrar T Giridhar Krishna, HOD for Higher Education G Rama Rao, Agriculture Engineering and Technology HOD K Yella Reddy, Social Science HOD T Neeraja and Director for Research L Prasanthi were present.