It may sound unbelievable, but true. One-third of the rice varieties produced in 2021 in India were from the laboratories of Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU). Of the 121 million tonnes of rice produced in 2021 in the country, 39 million tonnes pertain to the rice varieties developed by ANGRAU. In other words, every third morsel eaten in India had its roots in ANGRAU.
Similarly, 95.06% of groundnut area in Andhra Pradesh is filled with varieties released by ANGRAU, with a single variety K-6 occupying 90.15% of the field space. In fact, the revenue from ANGRAU-released groundnut varieties contribute about 0.49% to 1.06% to Agricultural GVA in India during the last 10 years, which is about 18.11% of the state’s total agricultural GVA.
Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan, in his capacity as the university’s Chancellor, delivered an address at the 52nd and 53rd combined convocation here on Wednesday, when he hailed the ‘remarkable strides’ made by the varsity by standing seventh among State agricultural universities in the country for 2021.
Blaming insufficient income generation, crop failure, adverse terms of trade, rural indebtedness and the inefficient value chain as the reasons for agrarian distress, the Governor wanted solutions on a war footing basis by accelerating procurement operations, strengthening forward markets, ensuring diversification and smart farming.
Mr. Harichandan also appreciated the role of farm women, who comprised 45.3% of farm workforce, in ensuring sustenance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mr. Harichandan appealed to the graduating students to serve the farmer, the land and also the field of agriculture. A honorary doctorate was announced to Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekawat.
In his keynote address, Minister for Agriculture Kakani Govardhan Reddy recalled the government’s pro-farmer initiatives such as YSR Bhima, free crop insurance, zero interest loan, Polambadi, agri-labs and 10778 Rythu Bharosa Kendras.
Vice-Chancellor A. Vishnuvardhan Reddy said that 42,118 students, including 31,370 undergraduates and 10,748 postgraduates had walked out of the varsity’s portal since its inception in 1964. Dr. Reddy announced that 65 and 105 students from different colleges of ANGRAU had qualified in ICAR-JRF/SRF and GATE examinations for the academic years 2018-19 and 2019-20 respectively.
Member of Parliament M. Gurumoorthy, Registrar T. Giridhar Krishna and others were present.
