RAHA, April 3 - The Assam Agricultural University (AAU) is celebrating its golden jubilee year with a year-long programme commencing from April 1 this year.
As a part of this celebration, the College of Fisheries here, which is a constituent college of the university, today took out a colourful cultural procession at Raha.
More than 100 students, teaching and non-teaching staff of the college led by Dr KK Tamuli, Dean, College of Fisheries, Raha, participated in the procession where the achievements of the university during the last 50 years was highlighted.
In the cultural procession, Bihu husori, Biya Naam, Ai Naam, Jikir and Jari, Assamese marriage, gayan-bayan, folk dances of various tribes of Assam and the North East were demonstrated, which enthralled the audience.
Established on April 1, 1969, Assam Agricultural University, Jorhat is the first institution of its kind in the whole of North-East India. The main of establishment of this institution was to produce globally-competitive human resources in the farm sector and to carry out research in both conventional and frontier areas for production optimisation as well as to disseminate the generated technologies as public good for benefitting the food growers and traders involved in the sector, while emphasising on sustainability, equity and overall food security at the household level.
Since inception, the University has produced about 18,000 graduates and post- graduates till date. These human resources are rendering yeoman�s service at the State, regional, national and global level in various capacities.
Before establishment of the Assam Agricultural University, there were altogether 17 research schemes/projects in the State under the Department of Agriculture. By July 1973, all the research projects and 10 experimental farms were transferred by the Government of Assam to the AAU, which already inherited the College of Agriculture and its farm at Barbheta, Jorhat and College of Veterinary Sciences at Khanapara, Guwahati. Subsequently, the College of Home Science at Jorhat (1969), College of Fisheries at Raha (1988), Biswanath College of Agriculture at Biswanath Chariali (1988) and Lakhimpur College of Veterinary Science at Joyhing, North Lakhimpur (1988) were established.
At present, the university has three more colleges under its jurisdiction, i.e., Sarat Chandra Singha College of Agriculture at Chapar, College of Horticulture at Nalbari and College of Sericulture at Titabar.
The university has comprehensively succeeded in carrying out agricultural research, teaching and extension during its 50 glorious years of existence. The university is also striving to serve the farming community of the State through its network of 23 Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) distributed all over the State.
It is worth mentioning that AAU Vice Chancellor Dr KM Bujarbaruah received the �Sardar Patel Outstanding Institution Award , 2014� instituted by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), New Delhi for its outstanding performance in all spheres of teaching, research, extension and innovations consecutively for 5 years since 2009 to 2014.
He was also awarded the Best Vice Chancellor Award among all the agricultural universities of India, All India Agricultural Students� Association, ICAR and University of Agricultural Sciences, Raichur in 2017. The KVK of Sonitpur under AAU was also recently conferred the Best Zonal KVK Award on March 17 last by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi.
