Hyderabad, June 11, 2023: Telangana and Jharkhand Governor CP Radhakrishnan said that India has ample opportunities to grow to a GDP of 30 trillion US dollars by 2047, and this will be possible through Viksit Bharat, in which the youth should play a leading role. He inaugurated the third convocation of Sri Konda Laxman Telangana Horticultural University held on June 11 at Mulugu, Siddipet district. On this occasion, the Governor, CP Radhakrishnan said that the Union government providing more support to natural and organic agriculture for further growth in the context of more than 18% of India's gross domestic product. He expressed hope that the importance of horticulture and forestry sectors will increase along with agriculture. Agriculture is the main source of income for over 70% of the rural population in the country and over 82% are small and marginal farmers. The Governor called upon the students to move forward with the goal of success, if they face difficulties, they can take a break but not turn back. The Givernor said that in order to reach them, the beginning should be as big as the start.The governor said that Abraham Lincoln and Narendra Modi have left their mark in the world and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a great person who has freed the people who are suffering from poverty and hunger. He said that if quality is shown in every aspect including education, success is the key. The Governor said on the occasion that Raj Bhavan will always be ready to improve the quality of education.
Dr. Geethalakshmi, Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, said that there is a need to focus on technology-based agriculture in order to achieve sustainable food and nutritional security in the face of diminishing cultivated land, natural resources, crop productivity and climate change, and for India to grow as a super economy. Attending the convocation ceremony as the chief guest, she said....precision farming, big data, artificial intelligence, Robots, Drones, Remote Sensing should be introduced to the farmers so that the productivity of the crops will increase. She said that in the context of 20 to 30 percent yield loss after harvesting, necessary facilities should be provided for better storage of crop produce. Speed breeding is an advanced technology to develop short duration crop varieties.
She said that new varietal development will be completed within two to three years. Gene editing, gene pyramiding techniques can be used to develop varieties that can withstand water stress, high heat and water stress.
Dr. Geeta Lakshmi stated that students should grow up as job providers rather than job seekers. Students should focus on skill development in view of the promising future of agro and horticultural based industries in the country, which is also useful for Skill India, she said.She expressed hope that if the students get used to the character of hard work, success will surely come.
Sri Konda Laxman Telangana University, Vice Chancellor Dr. Mrs. B. Neeraja Prabhakar delivered the welcome speech and also presented progress report to the Governor. She said that the Horticultural university will provide the necessary training to the students to develop them as good horticultural human resources and also provide technical advice to the farmers at the field level. She said geographical identification of local crops such as Balanagar custard apple, Armuru turmeric and other local crops, registration of farmers' varieties, research on palm oil, organic cultivation of major horticultural crops and development of new varieties. Dr. Neeraja Prabhakar said that along with the publication of science-based horticultural guide to farmers, new horticultural knowledge is being provided to farmers through village adoption and extension programs.
Giod medals to the students
R. Varalakshmi received three gold medals for securing the highest OGPA in BSc Honors Horticulture.
PCCF Gold Medal in BSc Honors Forestry is given to K. Ravali;
K. Pratyusha received the dean's gold medal.while,
SKLTSH Gold Medal for scoring highest OGPA in all departments in MSc Horticulture, scoring the highest OGPA among girl students and for being the topper in the vegetable science, M. Malavika bagged three gold medals.
GS Divya in fruit science department and P. Vidya sree in floriculture and landscaping department and P. Maheshwari received a gold medal in the plantation, spices, medicinal and aromatic crops department.
Degrees awarded to students
In this third convocation ceremony, 156 students got a horticulture degree, 50 forest degree, 45 horticulture PG, 30 forest PG, and another six got PhD doctorates.
Varsity registrar Dr. A. Bhagwan, Dean Dr. M. Rajasekhar, Research Director Dr. Kiran, DSA Dr. Vijay, Controller of examinations Dr. Sreenivas, Commissioner of Horticulture, Govt. Of Telangana Ashok Reddy and Board member Dr. RK Mathur, professors and students participated in convocation.
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