As govt eyes agriculture varsity land, scientists say it’s needed for research

Several scientists and heads of departments of HP Agriculture University today expressed their concern over comments by Cabinet Minister Yadvinder Gomma and MLA Kewal Singh Pathania pertaining to the non-utilisation of land by the university. They said agriculture universities in Punjab, Haryana and Uttrakhand had much more surplus land as compared to the HP Agriculture University.

Talking to reporters, they said the new generation of political leaders is ignorant of the contributions made by their predecessors in agriculture education, research and extension in the state. This, the scientists said, was done by establishing an agricultural university in difficult geographical conditions.

Need to make state self-sufficient

• As of now, every year Himachal Pradesh requires more than 10 lakh quintal seeds of cereals, pulses, vegetables, potato, ginger, garlic, oilseeds and fodder, etc. Of this, only 1.63 lakh quintals are supplied by 36 seed production farms of the state. The scientists said there was a requirement for expanding the seed production programme to reduce dependence on sources outside the state and become self-sufficient

“Motivating the local community to donate land to the university, and acquiring a big chunk from the Central Government from a national biological laboratory are examples of visionary leadership by earlier leaders,” a scientist said. “Had the university land really been surplus to the university’s needs, the leaders of those times would not have acquired it after motivating people to donate it. They were looking at the future — if they had analysed the state of farming and population during the Sixties, they would have left a major part of the national laboratory land with the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, which is now known as the Institute of Himalayan Biological Resources Lab. But they realised the future need of agriculture education and acquired enough land due to this reason.”

Another scientist said that annually, state requires more than 10 lakh quintal seeds of cereals, pulses, vegetables, potato, ginger, garlic, oilseeds and fodder, etc. Of this, only 1.63 lakh quintals are sourced from the 36 seed production farms of the state. He said the state must expand its seed production programme to reduce the dependence on sources outside the state to make it self-sufficient in seed production. “The seed is the most critical unit for ensuring higher production. The production of high quality healthy sseed is best suited to local agro-ecological environment,” he said.

The scientists said only breeder seeds are being produced on the university premises. “If provided funds to develop seed farms here, the university can produce foundation and certified seeds of the best quality to meet the requirements of the state’s farmers,” said a scientist.

Funds and grants are being organised by the university officials from agencies such as the Indian Council of Agriculture Research and Japanese International Cooperation Agency through competitive projects. They regretted the government’s move to try to divert university land for a tourism village. “This move would affect the programme to develop land for seed production and research,” said a scientist.