Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor on Monday flagged off a batch of 12 undergraduate students from Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agriculture Sciences and Technology (SKUAST)-Kashmir on a study tour to Kansas State University in the US.
The 12 students are from the faculties of Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry. They will be visiting the US under the Student Overseas Fellowship Programme of National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP) funded by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and the World Bank, an official spokesman said.
The spokesman said the two-month long capacity-building fellowship will expose the undergraduate students to global learning ecosystem, farmer communities and industry establishment.
Under the programme, the students will spend minimum two months in the US, primarily in ‘Sustainable Intensification Innovation Lab’.
The students based on their areas of interest will be attached to relevant faculty and student groups to expose them to the global learning ecosystem and to imbibe new ideas, educational and research system of the United States, and explore opportunities for higher studies in the US.
On the occasion, Sinha said India’s collaboration with the US in agriculture and technology goes back to several decades.
“As the world moves towards a knowledge economy, students from SKUAST will benefit from experience of Kansas University in agriculture extension, farm-to-market linkages, weather & crop forecasting,” he said.
The Lt Governor stressed upon students and faculties to focus on necessary experimental skills and familiarity with the requirement of modern agriculture and allied sectors.
While interacting with the group of UG students, LG extended his good wishes for the success of the learning program, the spokesman said.
The Lt Governor said the National Education Policy-2020 empowers young students to engage not only in advanced research but also in various other fields which facilitate development of new and innovative technologies and their commercial development.
“The international outreach initiative of SKUAST-K is in line with NEP-2020”, he added.
Noting that under the New Industrial Development Scheme, special provisions are kept for agri startups and entrepreneurship, the Lt Governor impressed upon the faculty members for dedicated focus towards the development of ecosystem of startups and enterprise in agri-technologies by sensitizing students of agriculture universities. He also called for establishment of a research Center for seed development.
Dr Parvez Sofi, Associate Professor, will accompany the students on the study tour as a faculty facilitator. The batch comprises 10 female and two male students, including two from the UT of Ladakh.
Kansas State University is the first ‘Land Grant University’ in Agriculture Education, Research and Extension with globally acclaimed academic and research programme.
During the programme, the students, in addition to Kansas State University, will also visit various other US varsities including Oklahoma State University, Iowa University and Nebraska University, according to the spokesman.
