Agricultural Education Day was celebrated at the Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) and several Indian Council of Agricultural Research institutions in the city, including the Indian Institute of Oilseeds Research (IIOR), on Tuesday.
At PJTSAU, Vice-Chancellor V. Praveen Rao and registrar S. Sudheer Kumar inaugurated an exhibition organised as part of the celebration for showcasing prospects in the agricultural sector, teaching, research and extension activities of the university. Later, interacting with students, the V-C explained that the event was organised to educate school students and encourage them to choose agriculture as a profession by explaining the job prospects.
Stating that about 60% of the population was directly depending on agriculture for their livelihood, he noted that the agriculture sector offers a lot of opportunities for innovative and intellectual students. Kalpana shastry of Tata Institute of Social Sciences spoke on the ‘Importance of Agriculture in Human life and in National Development’.
Agricultural Education Day is celebrated to commemorate the birth anniversary of the first President of India, Rajendra Prasad. About 1,000 students from several schools located in and around Rajendranagar visited the exhibition.
At IIOR, director A. Vishnuvardhan Reddy and other faculty members took the students of schools and colleges in the surrounding areas to the demonstration plots of oilseeds cultivation and explained to them about oilseeds crops and research apart from clarifying their doubts.
Directors of other ICAR institutions such as Indian Institute of Rice Research, Indian Institute of Millets Research and Indian Institute of Poultry Research also participated.
