UHF Nauni celebrates 34th Foundation Day

Celebrations marked the 34th Foundation Day of the Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (UHF), Nauni. Himachal Pradesh Governor and Chancellor of the university Acharya Devvrat was the Chief Guest on the occasion. Five former Vice-Chancellors of the university also graced the event.

The celebrations began with presenting floral tributes to Himachal Founder and first Chief Minister of the state Late Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar. In his address on the topic ‘The role of education in shaping the future of youth’, the Governor urged the young students of the university to play a leading role in undertaking research in agriculture, particularly in natural farming, in order to make safer food available to the people. He lauded the role of university scientists and staff in the development of horticulture in the state due to which Himachal Pradesh has gone on to occupy an important place in the country’s horticulture scenario. He placed emphasis on the promotion of local seeds, which must be easily made available to the farmers for cultivation.

While addressing the gathering, Dr HC Sharma, Vice Chancellor of the university said that over 60% of India’s population depends on agriculture and over 43% of the geographical land was under it. He also stressed on the need to exploit the high yielding varieties and hybrids, and potential of genetic engineering. Dr Sharma focused on the need to forge new academic and research partnerships and provide opportunities for gaining knowledge and expertise in modern tools of Information Technology, Biotechnology and Nanotechnology. Sharing figures that the country was spending 0.2% of Agricultural GDP on R&D as compared to 0.6% in China and 1.6% by the USA, Dr Sharma said that in order to become more competitive we must increase the percentage of GDP spent on education and R&D. He also shared the various achievements of the university in the past one year.

The event was made even more memorable with five former Vice Chancellors, Dr RP Awasti, Dr SS Negi, Dr Jagmohan Singh, Dr KR Dhiman and Dr Vijay Singh Thakur, being honoured by the Chief Guest on the occasion. The Chief Guest also honoured the university staff, scientists, students and the progressive farmers of the state. Two publications of the university scientists were also released on the occasion.

The students and staff of the university gave a scintillating display of their talent during the cultural programme organized on the occasion. A special session where all the former vice-chancellors shared their experiences was also held.

Earlier, the Governor inaugurated the ‘Gitanjali Girls’ Hostel’ built at a cost of Rs 2.5 crore with funding from the ICAR. The new hostel has a capacity of housing 80 girls. He also visited the ‘Subhash Palekar Natural Farming’ block of the university and appreciated the work being done by the university.