GOVIND BALLABH PANT UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE
AND
TECHNOLOGY
PANTNAGAR 263 145 (UTTARANCHAL)
The Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture
and Technology, Pantnagar was established in 1960 on the recommendation of
the Radhakrishnan University Education Commission on the Land Grant
pattern of the USA. It has been awarded the Best Institution Award of 1997 of the ICAR.
Being a fully residential university, it has 8 out of its 9 colleges in the main campus, viz. Colleges of Agriculture, Veterinary Sciences, Home Sciences, Basic Sciences and Humanities, Technology, Fisheries, Post-graduate Studies, Agribusiness Management; and the one at its Hill Campus at Ranichaur, the College of Forestry. These colleges offer 13 undergraduate and 123 post-graduate programmes through their 70 departments. A new college of Agribusiness Management was started in 1998.
The pioneer Practical Crop Production Programme at undergraduate level started by the university has now been emulated by almost all the State agricultural universities of India. A full-semester Rural Work Experience Programme has also been a trend-setter.
The main campus has Crop Research Centre, Horticulture Research Centre, Vegetable Research Centre, Livestock Research Centre, Poultry Research Centre, Fishery Research Centre and Mushroom Research Centre, whereas there are four research centers in the hill areas located at Ranichaur, M, Majhera, Lohaghat and Paure.
The university has developed over 150 varieties of various crops, fruits, vegetables, etc. The technique of high-density mango orcharding, hydroponics protocol for producing tissue-cultured jplants of some crops, cultivation of off-season vegetables and flowers in polyhouses and the large-scale mushroom production in controlled conditions are some of the technologies for transforming agriculture into a business venture.
The veterinarians have developed vaccines for marec, palm and salmonella diseases. Use of herbs and acupuncture for the control of various animal diseases, development of embryo-transfer technology and the kits for testing pregnancy and adulteration of urea in milk are the other achievements. The techniques of fish breeding and fish culture in running water and cage have been developed by the fishery scientists.
The Pant zero-till ferti-seed drill developed by its engineers is now becoming very popular with the farmers. Other implements developed like paddy planter, sugarcane planter, spiked clod crusher, rotary puddler, potato digger, multi-crop seed drill, etc. have made the farming operation easier, cheaper and quicker.
The farm-based occupations like bee-keeping, mushroom producing, angora rabbit production, sheep, goat and other dairy animal keeping are also propagated by the university. The fisheries scientists are now concentrating towards development of cold-water fisheries. The new varieties and production technologies of under-utilized crops of the hills like buckwheat, ricebean, fingermillet, setaria, chenopodium, etc., which are very nutritious and rich in iron, protein, minerals and vitamins, and the new recipes for making biscuits, laddoos and other food items from these crops have already been developed.
The university is utilizing all channels of communication like radio, television and print media to reach to the farmers. Interpersonal communication is also made by arranging about 70 trainings annually for the farmers, unemployed youth and the officers of government and public sector undertakings. All-India Farmers’ Fair and Agro-Industrial Exhibition is being organized twice a year at the main campus, whereas Kisan Diwas are organized at all the Regional Research Stations.
An Agricultural Technology Information Centre (ATIC) has also been established at the university, which is rendering consultancy, diagnostic service and supply of agro-inputs to the farmers. Recently a telephonic Helpline service has also been started by the university for providing guidance to the farmers on telephone.
The university undertakes large-scale seed-production programme at its farm and the Seed Production Centre to produce good-quality seeds of high-yielding varieties of various rabi and kharif crops and supplying to seed corporations of different states and the farmers.