Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today expressed pride over the outstanding performance of women in the field of agricultural sciences and technology, saying their achievements reflect a promising future for the nation.
He extended his felicitations to women students for their outstanding academic achievements at the sixth convocation ceremony of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST-K), held in Srinagar.
“Proud to see our daughters breaking barriers and achieving success in agricultural science & technology.
Out of 150 students conferred with gold medals, 115 were women students. Out of 445 certificates of merit, 334 were given to girls.
Out of a total of 5,250 degrees of undergraduate, masters, PhD in today’s convocation, 2,661 degrees have been awarded to women students. “It reflects a bright future for J&K and the nation,” the Lieutenant Governor, who is also the Pro-Chancellor of SKUAST-K said in his address.
Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, was the Chief Guest at the convocation ceremony, which was also attended by Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and SKUAST-K Pro-Chancellor, Omar Abdullah.
The Lieutenant Governor congratulated the university for creating a competent and competitive human resource, shaping up the farm sector in J&K, remarkable improvement in its ranking and also wished the students for their bright future.
The Lieutenant Governor spoke on the transformative reforms taking place in agriculture and allied sectors in the UT of Jammu Kashmir over the past few years.
“Under the visionary leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the agriculture and allied sector has truly become a mainstay of India’s economy. This change is strongly reflected in J&K’s agriculture landscape. Today, Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) has emerged as a role model of agricultural revolution in the entire country,” he said.
Sinha highlighted that in the last five years, J&K has set four major goals for agriculture and allied sector to transform the agriculture sector into a sustainable commercial agriculture economy, to create an agri-business ecosystem with value chain, farmer and community-centric approach for holistic development of agriculture and to increase the income of farming families and secure their livelihood.
The Lieutenant Governor urged the graduating students to make their valuable contribution to innovation and progressive farming and take the lead in agri-technology, food technology, and groundbreaking innovation. “Your passion and ideas will shape the future of India’s agriculture sector”, he said.
“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. And, I firmly believe that if education is in accordance with the time and the needs of the global industry, then it is the most precious asset of the society,” the Lieutenant Governor said.
The Lieutenant Governor also commended the Vice Chancellor and his team for developing modern, state of the art infrastructure and a new-age educational platform. New academic programmes, centres of excellence and research in modern technology areas — artificial intelligence, machine learning, gene editing, regenerative medicine, speed breeding — have brought Jammu and Kashmir closer to achieving its goal of becoming a knowledge economy and provided an opportunity to promote the UT’s bio-economy.
Prof. Nazir Ah. Ganai, Vice Chancellor SKUAST Kashmir, read out the university report and highlighted the academic, research and extension activities of the university.
