Agriculture university graduates to sow seeds for better food, more water

The institute is the pioneer of research in the field of agriculture and provides support to farmers.

HYDERABAD: The Sindh Agriculture University, Tandojam, conferred academic degrees to 516 students of the graduating batch at the university’s seventh annual convocation on Wednesday.

The recipients included nine scholars who received their doctorate of philosophy degrees. The institute’s vice chancellor, Dr Abdul Qadir Mughal, awarded gold and silver medals to 42 students for their outstanding performance.



Speaking at the occasion, Dr Mughal said that, “The Sindh Agriculture University is a vanguard in agriculture research in the province. We are, however, far from making our mark at the national and international levels.”

He said the new challenges to the students of agriculture sciences include food production, food security and availability of clean water. “The recurrent droughts, population growth, emerging pests and plant and animal diseases, have had their impact on food production and the agriculture system. If they are not dealt with, they will threaten the availability of sufficient food supplies.”

The VC said that the institute has also set up an advisory service centre for farmers, which will provide them solutions for all kinds of problems they may face in the process of crop production.

The university offers 36 teaching courses through its five teaching faculties including crop production, crop protection, agricultural social sciences, agricultural engineering and animal husbandry and veterinary sciences. The university’s enrollment is over 6,500 students while more than 50,000 undergraduate students and over 10,000 post graduate students have qualified from the institution.

He informed that the SAU will also offer scholarships to 345 of its students under the Higher Education Commission’s Need Based Scholarship initiative. Separately, SAU has also established a scholarship endowment fund and allocated Rs17.67 million for the current fiscal year.

The message of Governor Sindh Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan was also read out at the occasion. Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Veterinary University, Benazirabad, vice chancellor,Dr Jay Mal Dhanani, and SAU’s Dr R B Mirbahar and Dr Ameer Bux Kalhoro also addressed the ceremony.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2013.