Horticulture is flourishing in India: Dr Himanshu

Bagalkot: Horticulture in India is flourishing and the production in it has exceeded that in agriculture, said Professor Himanshu Pathak, director general, International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics, Hyderabad.Delivering his address at the 14th annual convocation of University of Horticulture Sciences (UHS) here on Tuesday, he said the production in horticulture in India stood at 362 million tonnes and there is need to focus on developing this sector further.India is aiming at becoming Viksit Bharat by 2047 and the youths have a greater role to play in realising this mission. Nearly 50 percent of India's population depends on agriculture and it is imperative that the youths should be engaged more in farming and ensure enhancement of production as well as value addition, Prof Pathak said. He also called upon the fresh graduates to find solutions to the problems that crop up from time to time and help the farmers.Chancellor of the university and governor Thawar Chand Gehlot, who conferred the degrees and presented the gold medals and prizes, hailed the increased entry of women in the study of agriculture and horticulture sciences.University VC Vishnuvardhan said UHS Bagalkot is the topper among seven horticulture universities in the country in getting Junior Research Fellowship (JRF). Stating that the students have been encouraged to take up research on the problems faced by the farmers, the VC said the varsity needs another 500 acres and a proposal has been sent to the government in this connection.As many as 508 candidates were conferred degree in BSc Horticulture and BTech, 144 in MSc while 42 were conferred PhD at the convocation. As many as 95 gold medals, including 25 instituted by the university, were presented to the achievers.UHS registrar Mahadev Muragi, director of instruction N K Hegde, research director B Fakruddin and director of extension Venkateshalu were present.BOXGold MedallistsSahana Patage and Bheemavva Karkihalli, who won 17 and 16 gold medals respectively in BSc (Horticulture), emerged as the ‘Golden Girls'.Other Gold Medallists are: PhD: PR Pavan (four), M Mahalakshmi, Vandana Virupaksha (two each).MSc: Dhanyashri SG, HT Amulya (four each), Sachin Modagin (three), MS Supriya (two), BH Harshita, Kune Lavanya, CS Karthik, Harsha Patil, B Chandana, Kavya Jagadish and M Likhitgowda (one each).BSc Horticulture: Ramyashri Gangoti, Pallavi L (four each), KM Nityashri, Nandita Nayak (three each), Priyanka TK, BS Prakruti, Prateeksha, Arun Hegde, Vijay Balaji Yadav, Rekha Ramappa Teli (two each), K Chaitra, R Jayavardhan, K Salma, Laxmi Nagappa, Kashamma Ishwar Pawadi, Mahesh Baburao and KM Asha (one each).