Dr. Y.S.R. Horticulture University of Andhra Pradesh has been ranked the best horticulture university by the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR).
The ranking places the university above all the other horticultural universities in the country. While it was given the overall 11th rank, the University of Horticulture Sciences, Bagalkot, has been given the 20th rank. The Dr Yaswant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Solan, has been given the 38th rank by the ICAR.
Dr Y.S.R. Horticulture University Vice-Chancellor and Horticulture Secretary of A.P. Chiranjeev Chowdary told The Hindu that out of seven horticultural universities in the country, the ICAR gave the best ranking to the A.P. university based on its infrastructure, extension and research and development.
‘Programmes
farmer-friendly’
The research programmes of the university were very friendly to farmers and the extension work was also very good, he said.
The university has always been above the N.G.Ranga Agricultural University and the Sri Venkateswara University of Veterinary Sciences, the two other agricultural universities in the State, the Vice-Chancellor said.
From the 26th rank a couple of years ago, its ranking improved tremendously in just a short time.
Strong in research
The 17 research stations made the university very strong in infrastructure and the areas of research like germplasm collection, evaluation and conservation, dry land horticulture, water management and micro-irrigation, protected cultivation and organic farming and promotion of bio-fertilisers were all targeted at making horticulture more profitable.
The university has also announced producing high-yielding disease-free plant material in horticultural crops like sweet orange, acid lime, mango, banana, coconut and cashew as niche area of excellence.
Another area that has been listed as priority area is production of healthy planting material of vegetables and flowers in automated plug type nurseries.
Variety of labs
The university has been establishing various types of labs including quality control labs for residue analysis, establishing post-harvest technology labs for cold storages, ripening chambers and for sorting and grading. It has also established tissue culture labs for the production and supply of tissue culture banana plants.
