After moving lock, stock and barrel into the capital region, Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University has begun academic sessions by setting up an Advanced PG Centre at Lam village.
Classes for M.Sc courses in Seed Germination and Taxonomy, Environmental Sciences, Water Management, Micro Biology for 2015-16 have begun.
“The entire administration of ANGRAU moved to a makeshift premises in an apartment complex on the Inner Ring Road phase -2 in December and we are working closely with Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) in introducing new courses,” Dean, ANGRAU, T. Ramesh Babu told The Hindu . A new institute – Institute of Agri Business Management – was allotted to Tirupati and Rs.19 crore was sanctioned, he said.
The popular B.Sc (Agriculture) course has been restructured so as to include Rural Entrepreneurial Awareness Development Yojana (READY) in the final year of the course to provide a real time work experience for students.
The Dean said after Andhra Pradesh was allotted a State Agricultural University as per the provisions of the A.P. Reorganisation Act, 2014, foundation stone for ANGRAU, an institute of national importance, was laid on November 16, 2015.
Rs. 85 crore released
Though the university had submitted a Detailed Project Report (DPR) worth Rs. 1,505 crore, the Centre had assured that it would give Rs. 200 crore and has already released Rs. 85 crore.
State Minister for Agriculture, Prathipati Pulla Rao, recently laid the foundation stone for faculty building to be built at a cost of Rs. 7.5 crore.
The ANGRAU is also keen on developing the historic Bapatla Agricultural College (BAC) as an institution of excellence and recently ICAR sanctioned Rs. 4.69 crore.
A major assistance in the form of Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF) by Nabard to the tune of Rs. 79 crore with which a central library, central instrumentation cell and staff building was also given to BAC, Dr. Ramesh Babu said.
