BANARAS
HINDU UNIVERSITY
INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES
The
Banaras Hindu University was established in the year 1916
(Parliament notification No. 225 of 1916) by the visionary Pt.
Madan Mohan Malaviya. The University is spread over an area of
1350 acres with majestic buildings of monumental architectural
design, lush green fields and canopies of magnificent avenues. The
University enshrines within its precincts phenomenal range of
faculties incorporating different disciplines of Science,
Humanities, Social Sciences, Commerce, Law, Education, Visual
Arts, Performing Arts, Management, Medicine – Modern, Ayurveda and
Dental Sciences, Engineering & Technology, Agriculture and
Sanskrit Vidya and Dharma Vijnan.
Pt. Malaviyaji, realizing the role of agriculture sector as spring board to national economy ensured that this University pioneers postgraduate studies in Agriculture by establishing an Institute of Agriculture Research in 1931. Since then, realizing the role of education and its accessibility and relevance to common people, the institute assumed different names and finally in 1981 got elevated to the status of Institute of Agricultural Sciences aiming at integration of teaching research and development in the field of Agriculture. The institute continued to discharge its mandated responsibilities of developing human resources, generating farm worthy and eco-friendly technologies and dissemination of technology to sustain and enhance the agricultural growth.
The Institute has 11 departments, viz., Agricultural Economics, Agronomy, Animal Husbandry & Dairying, Entomology & Agricultural Zoology, Extension Education, Farm Engineering, Genetics & Plant Breeding, Horticulture, Plant Physiology, Mycology & Plant Pathology, Soil Science and Agricultural Chemistry and one Centre of Food Science and Technology. The Institute admits students to its B.Sc. (Ag.), M.Sc. (Ag.) and Ph.D. courses through UET/ PET/ RET conducted by Banaras Hindu University. In addition students are also admitted to B.Sc. (Ag.) and M.Sc. (Ag.) through the All India Admission Test conducted by the Indian Council of Agriculture Research.
The University has facilities for sports like Cricket, Tennis, Foot Ball, Volley Ball, Basket Ball, Squash, a big indoor stadium, fields for track and field events, swimming pool, NCC with Air Strip which help in the overall development of the students.
All the faculty members of the Institute are actively engaged in research. To address the three major emerging challenges of new millennium viz., globalization and its impact on Indian agriculture, persistence of poverty and poverty driven hunger and malnutrition, the Institute is not only developing and refining new technologies but also inculcating them in new graduates – the future agriculture managers with greater and greater emphasis on human ethics and values. Besides producing nucleus and breeder seeds of important field crops, the Institute has taken initiative towards enhancing seed replacement rate by launching buy back mechanism of seed towards promoting and meeting demand of farmers in respect of truthful seed. Till date the Institute released 11 varieties of wheat, 4 varieties of rice, 5 varieties of moong bean, 3 varieties of pigeon pea, 2 varieties each of field pea and French bean, 1 variety of lentil and Hybrid Maize.
In the academic year 2012-13, the University started B.Sc. (Ag.) course under self-financing mode at Rajiv Gandhi South Campus, Barkachha, Distt. Mirzapur with an intake of 40 students.