CHANDIGARH: Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Saturday congratulated the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) for being accorded the No. 2 ranking, among agricultural universities, by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) for the year 2019.
In his congratulatory message, Captain Amarinder lauded the concerted efforts, dedication, commitment and hard work of the faculty and staff of PAU that led to the feat. He made special mention of the contribution of PAU Vice Chancellor Dr. Baldev Singh Dhillon in achieving the honour.
The Chief Minister termed it a matter of great satisfaction and pride that PAU had considerably improved its ranking status from No. 3 in 2016, to 4th position in 2017, 7th in 2018 and now 2nd in 2019, with its consistent research and development track record in improving the quality of food crops, vegetables and fruits, both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Notably, PAU also got Sardar Patel Institution award in 2018 from ICAR for overall achievements in the field of agriculture during five years (2012-2017).
Noting that PAU, which spearheaded the Green Revolution in the 60s, the Chief Minister assured all help to the varsity to further intensify its efforts to boost research in developing new varieties of crops. He also extended support to PAU for promoting crop diversification through allied farming activities to supplement the income of the farmers, who were passing through grave agrarian crisis due to stagnant MSP and diminishing returns on their produce. He hoped PAU would play a vital role in motivating the farmers of the state to adopt crop diversification through its extension services.