Naveen pitches for central agriculture varsity in Orissa

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has pitched for the establishment of a Central agricultural university in Orissa, given the need to enhance agriculture output in the state and ensuring success of the second Green Revolution in eastern India.

Since the state has only one university for agriculture- Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) and the workload of this university has gone up substantially in recent years, the state needs one more university, Patnaik stressed.

He has sought the intervention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for setting up of the Central agricultural university, preferably in the economically backward KBK (Kalahandi, Bolangir and Koraput) region.

“Apart from managing 10 colleges affiliated to it, the OUAT is also in charge of 28 Krishi Vikash Yojana (RKVY) kendras and eight regional research and technology transfer stations. The workload of the OUAT has gone up after the implementation of RKVY, particularly after the introduction of ‘Bringing Green Revolution to Eastern India’, a sub-scheme of RKVY. We therefore need one more agricultural university,” Patnaik wrote to the Prime Minister.

With the Union agriculture ministry declaring 2012 as the ‘Year of Horticulture’, Orissa is intensifying horticultural activities in general and the KBK districts in particular with a view to creating more opportunities for the tribal people who have a special liking for forestry and horticultural activities.

Since Orissa has nearly 6.4 million hectares of cultivable land and there is an urgency to intensify the activities in agriculture and allied sectors to make the second Green Revolution a great success in eastern India.

Patnaik has argued that Orissa can play a vital role in enhancing agricultural production in the country which will go a long way in providing food security to the nation.

“An important component of extending the ‘Green Revolution’ to the eastern region is to establish one or more Central agricultural universities in the eastern region, especially in areas, strategic to agriculture, and possibly in the vicinity of backward districts,” Patnaik's letter said.