The State Government should make the best use of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to develop agriculture, said Governor-Chancellor R.N. Ravi on Monday at the University's 42nd convocation in Coimbatore.
Because the University's beneficiaries were farmers, the government should begin to see it as a valuable asset. It should make the best use of the institution and address its problems and concerns.
The University should be technically competent as well as emotionally invested in identifying difficulties of farmers from throughout the state, he said and advocated for stronger collaboration between the two.
The University confronted a difficulty in preparing farmers for the effects of climate change. Agriculture was threatened by a changing monsoon pattern, increasing sea levels, deadly heat waves, and intense storms.
The Central Government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, recently unveiled 35 crop varieties produced by ICAR institutions as a starting step toward addressing the situation. Previously, it has introduced 17 biofortified varieties of eight crops.
Mr. Ravi was pleased to hear that the University's annual contribution to enhancing farmer income was Rs.10443 crore. Farmers earned Rs.5029 crore from the University's crop varieties, Rs.4863 crore from management innovations and Rs.541 crore from agricultural machinery.
Trilochan Mohapatra, Secretary of Agricultural Research and Education and Director General of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, stated that the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University ranked top among state agricultural institutions in terms of income generation.
It earned Rs.125 crore, whilst other universities got less than Rs.78 crore.
As the country had attained self-sufficiency in production, it was time to focus on logistics, storage, and transportation of agricultural output. They were critical in turning agriculture into a profitable venture since farmers presently suffered Rs.92651 crore per year owing to post-harvest losses.
Mohapatra further stated that it was time for the University to develop ways for improved rainwater utilization in agriculture. It should respond to Modi's request for 'more crop per drop,' as well as take measures to develop new technology in drip irrigation and fertigation because rain-fed agriculture accounts for 45 percent of the area under cultivation in the state.
It was all the more important for the University to concentrate on water management because the per capita availability of water had dropped from 5,000 cubic feet in the 1950s to 1,500 cubic feet.
He congratulated the Vice-Chancellor and faculty on moving the university from 33rd to 8th place on the university ranking list.
Earlier, Vice-Chancellor N. Kumar of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University greeted the audience and emphasized the University's accomplishments in the previous year.
Governor presented gold medals to 2,602 candidates, as well as 45 gold medals and awards.
According to a University press release, the Governor later toured the historic Research Institute building and spoke with members of the Board of Management.
