Graduates should strive to work towards improving profitability for not only food processing industries but also farmers, said Narendra Singh Rathore, Deputy Director General (agricultural education), Indian Council of Agricultural Research.
Only five crore people had access to college education and the country produced only 0.36% of the required agricultural graduates, he told the graduates of Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University.
Urging them to take up research, he said the Central government had recently launched a World Bank funded project through which researchers could get funds for developing their innovations. “We need value addition to the products,” he said.
Mrr. Rathore urged students to be entrepreneurs with a passion to address the country’s problems. “For instance, though India today is the largest producer of milk in the world, the productivity ismuch lower compared to global standards,” he said.
Udumalai K. Radhakrishnan, Minister for Animal Husbandry and the University’s pro-chancellor, announced that 11 endowment awards had been instituted.
Governor and Chancellor Ch. Vidyasagar Rao presented the medals and distributed the certificates to 289 graduates, including Ph.D candidates and administered the pledge.
86 medals given
University Vice-Chancellor S. Thilagar said 86 medals and awards were given away for academic excellence in the academic year 2016-17.
Among them was B.V.Sc graduate who K. Rajamanickam received 21 medals, including seven gold and 14 silver medals. A native of Chennimalai in Erode district, he is an alumnus of Kongu Vellalar Matriculation Higher Secondary School. “I want to do research in hepcidin, a hormone responsible for iron metabolism. I want to develop a drug that can treat anaemia in animals,” he said.
