Faculty Of Agriculture, Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agricultural University, Samastipur

Campus Location: Samastipur

Located in In the imperial Gazetteer of India 1878, Pusa was recorded as a government estate of about 1350 acres in Darbhanba. It was acquired by East India Company for running a stud farm to supply better breed of horses mainly for the army. Frequent incidence of glanders disease (swelling of glands), mostly affecting the valuable imported bloodstock made the civil veterinary department to shift the entire stock out of Pusa. A British tobacco concern Beg Sutherland & co. got the estate on lease but it also left in 1897 abandoning the government estate of Pusa., Lord Mayo, The Viceroy and Governor General, had been repeatedly trying to get through his proposal for setting up a directorate general of Agriculture that would take care of the soil and its productivity, formulate newer techniques of cultivation, improve the quality of seeds and livestock and also arrange for imparting agricultural education. The government of India had invited a British expert. Dr. J. A. Voelcker who had submitted as report on the development of Indian agriculture. As a follow-up action, three experts in different fields were appointed for the first time during 1885 to 1895 namely, agricultural chemist (Dr. J. W. Leafer), cryptogamic botanist (Dr. R. A. Butler) and entomologist (Dr. H. Maxwell Lefroy) with headquarters at Dehradun (U.P.) in the forest Research Institute complex., Surprisingly, until now Pusa, which was destined to become the centre of agricultural revolution in the country, was lying as before an abandoned government estate. In 1898. Lord Curzon took over as the viceroy. A widely traveled person and an administrator, he salvaged out the earlier proposal and got London’s approval for the appointment of the inspector General of Agriculture to which the first incumbent Mr. J. Mollison (Dy. Director of Agriculture, Bombay) joined in 1901 with headquarters at Nagpur, The then government of Bengal had mooted in 1902 a proposal to the centre for setting up a model cattle farm for improving the dilapidated condition of the livestock at Pusa estate where plenty of land, water and feed would be available, and with Mr. Mollison’s support this was accepted in principle. Around Pusa, there were many British planters and also an indigo research centre Dalsing Sarai (near Pusa). Mr. Mollison’s visits to this mini British kingdom and his strong recommendations. In favour of Pusa as the most ideal place for the Bengal government project obviously caught the attention for the viceroy., The agricultural college which had featured in the 1903 Pusa scheme but had been nipped in the but, did actually materialized in the sixties as the Tirhut College of Agriculture, Dholi . Now the Rajendra Agricultural University (RAU) has established (1970) itself at Pusa and has become an important landmark in agricultural research & education in the eastern region of the country. The Rajendra Agricultural University now at Pusa has various faculties and constituent colleges namely, Tirhut College of Agriculture (Dholi) Muzaffarpur, Bihar Agricultural college, Sabour (Bhagalpur), Bihar veterinary college, Patna, Sanjay Gandhi Institute of Dairy Technology, Patna, College of Fisheries, Dholi (Muzaffarpur) College of Home Science, College of Agricultural Engineering, College of Basic Sciences & Humanities and a postgraduate Faculty at Pusa In RAU located at Pusa, M.Sc. Degree is awarded in 34 and Ph.D. in 17 disciplines. There is one central Library, one 450 seat capacity of Boy’s Hostel, one University Girl’s Hostel, a VIP Guest House, Kisan Ghar, IKH Bhavan, Sanchar Kendra, ATIC building, administrative complex, flax house & cluster of residential building. The old imperial time 14 bungalows & other residential quarters are still holding the ground with imperial touch.. Use Google Maps for turn-by-turn driving directions to the campus.