Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha presided over the 34th University Council Meeting of SKUAST Kashmir at Raj Bhawan, where key officials and stakeholders discussed the institution’s future development.
The meeting saw the attendance of Atal Dulloo, Chief Secretary; Santosh D Vaidya, Principal Secretary, Finance Department; Dr Ashok Dalwai, former CEO NRAA; Prof. RC Agrawal, Deputy Director General, ICAR; Dr Mandeep Kumar Bhandari, Principal Secretary to Lt Governor; Prof. Nazir A. Ganai, Vice Chancellor SKUAST Kashmir; Dr. B.N Tripathi, Vice Chancellor SKUAST Jammu; Mohd Aijaz, Secretary, Planning, Development & Monitoring Department, and other senior officers.
Lt Governor Manoj Sinha acknowledged SKUAST-Kashmir’s significant contribution to the remarkable growth of the Agriculture & Allied sector in J&K UT. He praised the university’s innovation-led initiatives and holistic approach, emphasizing their role in creating a knowledge-based, technology-driven, and sustainable Agri-economy.
The meeting focused on outlining the future roadmap to position SKUAST-Kashmir as a leading institution for agricultural education, innovations, entrepreneurship, leadership, and research. The goal is to establish SKUAST as a hub for various centers of excellence in agriculture & the allied sector.
Sinha emphasized the need to translate research and innovation from laboratories to fields to enhance farmers’ productivity. He also instructed the university to conduct short skill training courses for students and undertake a detailed study on yield gaps.
The discussions further covered reforms to encourage start-ups and entrepreneurship, explore new frontier areas for smart and intelligent farming practices, and realign the university’s goals with national priorities.
In-principle approvals were granted to various agenda points during the meeting, including the establishment of the Centre of Artificial Intelligence & Machine Learning in Agriculture (CAIML), SKUAST-K Innovation, Incubation, and Entrepreneurship (SKIIE) Centre, and the establishment of the Division of Agro-Meteorology at FOH, Shalimar.
Prof. Nazir A. Ganai, Vice Chancellor SKUAST Kashmir, presented the Progress Report of the University during the meeting. Additionally, the occasion witnessed the release of the latest edition of Agri Rise, an Agricultural Education Digest on Agri-entrepreneurship.
