SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today addressed the 6th Convocation Ceremony of SKUAST Kashmir at Srinagar.

Union Minister for Agriculture & Farmers Welfare and Rural Development, Shivraj Singh Chouhan was the Chief Guest for the Convocation Ceremony.

The Union Minister extended his best wishes to the graduating students on their new beginning.

"Viksit Bharat, Viksit Jammu Kashmir and Prosperous farming community is our resolve. The Government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is committed to develop J&K as a hub of Horticulture," the Lieutenant Governor said.

The Union Minister also shared the experience of his visit to Jammu Kashmir. "The natural beauty of Kashmir and the love of its people has won my heart," he said.

In his address, the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha congratulated the University for creating a competent and competitive human resource, shaping up farm sector in J&K UT, remarkable improvement in its ranking and also wished the students for their bright future.

He extended his felicitations to the women students for their excellent academic performance across the subjects.

"Proud to see our daughters breaking barriers and achieving success in Agricultural Science & Technology. Out of 150 students conferred with gold medals, 115 were women students. Out of 445 Certificates of Merit, 334 were conferred to girls. Out of a total of 5250 degrees of undergraduate, masters, PhD in today's convocation, 2661 degrees have been awarded to women students. It reflects a bright future for J&K and the nation," the Lieutenant Governor said.

The Lieutenant Governor, in his address, spoke on the transformative reforms taking place in agriculture and allied sectors in the UT of Jammu Kashmir over the past few years.

"Under the visionary leadership of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the agriculture and allied sector has truly become a mainstay of India's economy. This change is strongly reflected in J&K's agriculture landscape. Today, Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) has emerged as a role model of agricultural revolution in the entire country," he said.

He highlighted that in the last five years, Jammu and Kashmir has set 4 major goals for agriculture and allied sector - to transform the agriculture sector into a sustainable-commercial agriculture economy, to create an agri-business ecosystem with value chain, farmer and community-centric approach for holistic development of agriculture and to increase the income of farming families and secure their livelihood.

The Lieutenant Governor urged the graduating students to make their valuable contribution to innovation and progressive farming and take the lead in agri-technology, food technology, and groundbreaking innovation. Your passion and ideas will shape the future of India's Agriculture sector, he said.

"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. And, I firmly believe that if education is in accordance with the time and the needs of the global industry, then it is the most precious asset of the society," the Lieutenant Governor said.

The Lieutenant Governor also commended the Vice Chancellor and his team for developing modern, state of the art infrastructure and a new-age educational platform. New academic programmes, centres of excellence and research in modern technology areas - artificial intelligence, machine learning, gene editing, regenerative medicine, speed breeding - have brought Jammu and Kashmir closer to achieving its goal of becoming a knowledge economy and provided an opportunity to promote the UT's bio-economy.

Prof. Nazir Ah. Ganai, Vice Chancellor SKUAST Kashmir read out the university report and highlighted the academic, research and extension activities of the University.

On the occasion, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare laid the foundation stone for the Girls hostel at SKUAST Kashmir.

Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah; Deputy Chief Minister, Surinder Kumar Choudhary; Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, J&K, Javid Ahmad Dar; Minister for Education, Health & Medical Education and Social Welfare, Sakina Itoo, Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo; Principal Secretary, Agriculture Production, Shailendra Kumar; heads of various educational institutions; senior officials, prominent citizens, faculty members, staff, graduating students and their parents were present.