Bengaluru: The Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) may soon get deemed university status, according to Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Ananth Kumar.
He was speaking at the inauguration of the international symposium on ‘Horticulture: Priorities and Emerging Trends’ organised as part of the IIHR golden jubilee celebrations at the Indian Institute of Science on Monday.
On a demand for deemed university status by IIHR that comes under the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR), Ananth Kumar said there were some technical details with regard to fulfilling guidelines of the University Grants Commission. “I will speak to Minister for Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar and Union Minister for Agriculture Radha Mohan Singh in this regard,” the union minister.
The minister said the growth rate of the sector was now almost 5 per cent from 1.5 per cent 2014 and the Centre’s target is to double the income of farmers by 2020.
“The Centre was setting up a National Agricultural Market to prevent distress sale of farm produce,’’ he said.
Governor Vajubhai R. Vala called upon researchers to ensure that agricultural produce doubles in the next five years. “Nearly 65 per cent of the population is dependent on agriculture. Overall development of the nation is possible only if the agricultural sector is strengthened. So, learn from the best practices of other countries and take technological advancements to the farmer,” he said.
