Proud to see women breaking barriers in agricultural sciences: LG Sinha

Srinagar, Jul 4: Lieutenant Governor (LG) Manoj Sinha Friday said that he was proud to see women breaking barriers in agricultural sciences and technology.

In his address at the 6th convocation ceremony of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir (SKUAST-K), the LG said, “Proud to see our daughters breaking barriers and achieving success in Agricultural Science and Technology. It reflects a bright future for J&K and the nation.”

During the convocation, of the 5250 degrees of undergraduate, master’s, and PhD, 2661 degrees were awarded to women, of the 150 students conferred with gold medals, 115 were women, and of the 445 Certificates of Merit, 334 were conferred to women.

LG Sinha, who is also the Chancellor of J&K universities, asked the SKUAST-K graduates to uphold curiosity, innovation and lifelong learning as core values, saying these were essential for personal growth and national development.

He said that the greatest divine gift bestowed upon humankind was “curiosity of the mind.”

“I urge every graduating student to keep the flame of curiosity alive throughout their life. It is this curiosity that drives innovation, leads to discovery, and enables one to contribute meaningfully to society and the country,” the LG said.

He said that ‘Viksit Bharat, Viksit Jammu Kashmir’ and ‘prosperous farming community’ were the resolutions of the J&K administration.

“The Centre, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is committed to developing J&K as a hub of horticulture,” LG Sinha said.

He congratulated SKUAST-K for creating a competent and competitive human resource, shaping up the farm sector in J&K, besides showing remarkable improvement in its ranking.

In his address, the LG also spoke on the transformative reforms taking place in agriculture and allied sectors in J&K over the past few years.

“The agriculture and allied sectors have truly become the mainstay of India’s economy under the visionary leadership of PM Modi,” he said.

LG Sinha said this change was strongly reflected in J&K’s agricultural landscape.

“Today, the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) has emerged as a role model of agricultural revolution in the entire country,” he said.

The LG said that J&K has set four major goals for agriculture and allied sector in the last five years which include transforming the agriculture sector into a sustainable-commercial agriculture economy, creating an agri-business ecosystem with value chain, farmer and community-centric approach for holistic development of agriculture, increasing the income of farming families, and securing their livelihood.

“I urge the graduating students to make their valuable contribution to innovation and progressive farming and take the lead in agri-technology, food technology, and groundbreaking innovation. Your passion and ideas will shape the future of India’s agriculture sector,” he said.

LG Sinha said that education was not preparation for life but life in itself.

“I firmly believe that if education is in accordance with the time and the needs of the global industry, then it is the most precious asset of society,” he said.

The LG also commended Vice Chancellor SKUAST-K, Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai and his team for developing modern, state-of-the-art infrastructure and a new-age educational platform.

“New academic programmes, centres of excellence, and research in modern technology areas – Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Gene Editing, Regenerative Medicine, Speed Breeding – have brought J&K closer to achieving its goal of becoming a knowledge economy and provided an opportunity to promote J&K’s bio-economy,” he said.