Greetings from the office of the Vice-Chancellor
Dear Colleagues,
Assam Agricultural University since its inception in 1969 has been working for the overall development of the farm sector in Assam with utmost dedication and sincerity, and the year 2023 is no exception. During the year Assam Rice Research Institute, Titabor has completed its 100 years of establishment while College of Community Sciences has completed its 50 th Year. Likewise, College of Agriculture and College of Veterinary Sciences have completed 75 years of their establishment. It is a matter of pride for the University to be ranked 19 in the National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) from its earlier 41st rank among the institutes of agriculture and allied sectors.
In the year gone by, we have put into practice a good many initiatives for taking AAU in the direction as envisioned. During 2023 interested under-graduate students were trained and motivated to become entrepreneurs from 2 nd year 1 st Semester. This way the students would be nurtured in a start-up culture and they will have the requisite training and confidence to start their entrepreneurial ventures by the time they complete their graduation.
Our collective efforts have brought many achievements for the university during 2023. Few among those are –notification of ten crop varieties by the Central Variety Release Committee. Infrastructure development for Medium Term Rice germplasm conservation facility in the form of “Rice Gene bank” at AAU-ARRI, Titabar, Multi Seed Processing Plants both at Titabor and ICR Farm, Jorhat, Cryo Gene Bank for Citrus at AAU-CPCRS, Tinsukia, development of AAUVET Dog Nibbles, launching of a project on poultry disease diagnosis in PPP mode, Industry-Academic Collaborative projects on poultry disease and Classical Swine Fever Vaccine, development of a Muga Detection Kit to check the purity of muga silk and standardization of protocols for the induced breeding and habitat breeding of some indigenous fishes etc.
During the year, Assam Agricultural University also took the initiative in the carbon market, through the formation of a Carbon Finance Potential Committee involving KVKs and its Zonal Research Stations. The Carbon Finance Potential committee has already started functioning. This project aims to harness the carbon credit from at least 10 million trees covering 10 districts of Assam and 3 lakh different tree species have already been registered.
It was also heartening to note that the AAU-ODL (Open and Distance Learning) has picked momentum and 600 trainees have received skill training in 26 different modules through integrated mode of on-line and off-line. Our extension wing through KVKs and Zonal Research Stations have also taken up massive technology demonstration programme on rapeseed-mustard value chain in 800 ha areas across the state in collaboration with ICAR- Directorate of Rapeseed-Mustard Research, Bharatpur, Rajasthan.
I believe the New Year 2024 will bring us more opportunities to collaborate, innovate, and achieve success as a team. Friends, we must always remember agriculture is a critical sector of the Indian economy, contributing around 17% to the total GDP providing employment for approximately 58% of the population. Being a part of this sector we must play our role for transforming the rural economy of the state and the Region.
Wishing all of you a very happy, healthy and fulfilling new year 2024.
With warm regards,
(Bidyut C. Deka)