Governor of Telangana and Chancellor of Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University (PJTSAU) C.P. Radhakrishnan has suggested the scientific community to focus on efficient and effective water management, production and productivity/yield of crops and also provide an opportunity to farmers on regular basis to witness the research and its result to believe in them.
“Farmers will adopt new technologies and adapt themselves to the changes fast only if they see and believe in their (technology) benefits”, he said addressing the sixth convocation of the university held here on Monday. Stating that the farming sector would hold key to the country always, he said its importance could not be undermined both in the present context and future since agriculture was key to the existence of human beings.
He cautioned that India, being the most populous country in the world, could not afford to import foodgrains and utmost priority shall be given to agriculture. The Chancellor asked the young graduates, who received their degrees at the convocation, not to follow the West blindly in everything. He advised them to take advantage of the innovations in information and technology for serving the farming community in a better way.
Managing Director of the State Bank of India Challa Sreenivasulu Setty, who was the chief guest at the convocation, said he was proud to be an alumni of the College of Agriculture on the university campus. Hailing from combined Mahabubnagar district, Mr. Setty said he owed his growth to the university.
Suggesting that impetus be given to the construction of storage facilities and food processing industry/technologies, the SBI top executive said allocations to the agricultural research were growing every year. He wanted a bigger role to the farm sector in the country’s economy as its contribution was limited only to 17% to 18% to the GDP though over 45% of the population was depending on it either directly or indirectly on agriculture.
Asking young graduates to grow as agri-preneurs by making use of the increasing opportunities for agri start-ups, Mr. Setty said there was a need for higher use of information and communication technologies, drones and block-chain technology in the agriculture sector. The farming community must be prepared to face the challenges of environmental changes and changing food patterns by empowering themselves.
In-charge Vice-Chancellor and Secretary (Agriculture) M. Raghunandan Rao, Registrar P. Raghurami Reddy and others spoke. A total of 587 undergraduates, 165 post graduates and Ph.D scholars received their degrees, including 19 of them receiving gold medals too.
