Narendra Deva University of Agriculture & Technology, Faizabad

On January 15, 1974 the foundation stone of Narendra Dev University of Agriculture & Technology was led by Hon'ble Primeminister of India late Smt. Indira Gandhi At Mashodha near Faizabad city Shri Laxmi narain Rai, APCS officer of Agriculture Department, government of UP,was deputed as pfficer on special duty.after a few montrh, hhe was succeeded by Dr. A.S. Srivastava He took over in October, 1974. some speed work was done by his team.A new delopment took place 21,1975 and the govenment of UP decided to locate the main campus of the university at kumargan j,Faizabad instead of Mashodha. Shri A.D. Pandey, IAS (retired) was apponted the first vice chancellor of the unversity on 10thoctober,1975.THe unversity started functioning in a borrowed building of Gram Swalabi Vidyalaya Acharya Nagar Naka Faizabad DR. R.P.Chandola joined as the first Regitrar of the university on november 1975 A committe was constituted for the site selection oa Academy administrative and resdential blocks of the unversity at kumarganj.The committe submited its report on 22ndjanuary,1976.On july 10,1976 the paddy research station located at,Mashodha.Ghghra Ghat and ECF and NDS schemes were transferred to the university by the government and U.P. institute Agril. science Kanpur which formed the nucleus of the reseach unversity.Dr.Kirti Singh took over the first Dean of the Agril. faculty on february,12, 1977 which approved creation of 20 department in the college of agriculture. The Mahamaya college of Agriculture Engineering and Technology(MCAET) a constituent college of ND unversity of Agriculture and Technology, Kumarganj, Faizabad was established at Ambedkarnagar by upgrding the department agriculture of the college of agriculture to cater the needs of development of engineering and Technoloy to suit the condition of the farmers of Eastern Uttar Pradesh characterised by problems of user lands,water looked poorly drained soils scant power supply,small holdings, low purchasing power and poor rural infrastructure. The College of Agriculture is the biggest college of the University. It came into existence in October 1978. The teaching work is done in the four wings of the college of agriculture building with laboratories having sophisticated equipments, spacious lecture rooms, sitting space for the staff member and a beautifully designed auditorium to seat 295 persons. Besides, it has a few green houses and glass houses and a stand by power generator to cater to the needs of campus water supply and student's hostels. There are nineteen departments in this college, viz, Agronomy, Genetics and Plant Breeding, Horticulture, Vegetable Science, Agricultural Economics, Soil Science, Agricultural Statistics, Entomology, Biochemistry, Crop Physiology, Plant Pathology, Nematalogy, Microbiology, Forestry, Extension Education, Agriculture engineering, Food Technology, Fisheries and Agril. Meteorology. These departments are engaged in three main functions of teaching, research and extension. A four year B.Sc.(Agriculture) degree programme is being offered in the college. Farm practical is a vital component of the training programme for various agricultural operations. Under the Earn-while-you-learn scheme, the students execute all the field operations themselves and the earnings are divided amongst them. The final year students also go for village extension training programmes every week. There has been a feeling that the students graduating from agricultural colleges do not possess the required practical knowledge and skills to be engaged in the agricultural profession effectively and efficiently. To achieve this goal Internship in Agriculture programme (IAP) has been started in this University at B.Sc.(Ag.) level to provide an opportunity to the students to develop self-confidence in training and better understanding of the practical problems faced in the field by the farmers as well as to see the socio-economic aspects of the villages more closely. After completion of course work, the students undergo Internship in Agriculture Programme (IAP) in the last semester. Under this programme, they are impart extensive entrepreneurship training in the field of their own choice ranging from preparation of feasibility report to the execution of projects. With the modernization of agriculture and changing scenario influenced by open market economy, there is an urgent need to introduce specialization at B.Sc.(Ag.) level. The objective of such specialization is to cover a wide-spectrum of agricultural activities, so as to produce graduates who can effectively meet the changing requirements of the farming community and the Department of Agriculture and allied agencies. Specialization at under-graduate level equips the graduates better to effectively compete in their lives. The B.Sc.(Ag.) programme, therefore, has a package of elective subjects at the under-graduate level offered by various departments.