The University of Agriculture, Peshawar
Since its establishment in 1981, this University has been playing a vital role in imparting Agricultural Education and conducting basic and applied agricultural research throughout the Province, and disseminating the results of agricultural research among the farmers and general public through its outreach/public service activities.
Being one of the leading institutions in the country, the University has been enjoying the prestige of providing high quality agricultural education and research to its students. The graduates of this University are serving in public-private sectors organizations on key positions within Pakistan and abroad. They are ambassadors of this University and have been bringing in laurels to the name and prestige of this University.
During the present convocation 750 students are being awarded Bachelor, Master and Ph.D. degrees. Outstanding students will be decorated with Presidential Awards, Gold Medals, Silver Medals and Bronze Medals.
The university is a corporate body. It has powers, inter-alia, to provide instructions, trainings, research and outreach; in agriculture, animal husbandry and other such disciplines of learning. The mission of The University of Agriculture, Peshawar is:
- To produce quality graduates in agriculture and related disciplines;
- To conduct problem-solving farmer-oriented research to make the country self sufficient in food commodities
- To provide educational and research linkages to rural communities and the public in order to alleviate poverty in rural areas.
The University imparts its educational and research programme through 5 Faculties, 26 departments and 3 institutes. The University offers Bachelor, Master, M.Phil and Ph.D. degrees in all disciplines of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, Rural Development, Rural Sociology and Bio-technology; and Bachelor and Master degrees in Management Sciences, Information Technology and Computer Sciences. Since the start of the Ph.D. programme in 1997 more than 50 Ph.D. scholars have graduated and about 250 are currently enrolled, pursuing their Ph.D. studies. All these academic programmes are run under the supervision of 185 highly qualified faculty, out of which 104 hold Ph.D degrees from leading Universities of international repute.
The University of Agriculture, Peshawar being the prime institute for agricultural education and research has the obligation to provide trained manpower to all sectors of agriculture in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Being a high seat of learning it is also expected to engage in basic and applied research.
Other than degree programmes, the University has been playing a vital role in training scientists and students of the allied institutions through short term trainings in different areas of agriculture and relevant disciplines. Similarly, international trainings have been a regular feature of this University manpower production programme where hundreds of Afghan nationals have been trained so far.
On February 4, 2006 this University completed its 25 years of existence. During these years the University has gone through tremendous changes. The Faculty and Researchers of this University have been conducting basic and applied research of international standard. In this pursuit, the University is ahead of many institutions of the country. A number of national and international research projects have been completed and still 85 projects are being run by the faculty, won through national and international competition.
Besides earning projects at the national and international levels, the faculty and students have also shown excellence in other curricular and co-curricular activities.
On the directive of the President of Pakistan, the Higher Education Commission holds National Students Convention to promote involvement of students in national issues. All public and private Universities of Pakistan take part in the Convention. In the Students Convocation 2005, one of our student, Umm-e-Aiman got first position at the provincial level and remained in the top ten students at the national.
During this year, four of our girl students succeeded in reserving their seats at the national level Convention. On the FATA reserved seat, our girl student got first position at the Provincial Convention and will participate in the National Convention 2006 in the 3rd week of April.
The students of this University have got 3 top positions in the entry test for M.Phil admissions at the National Institute of Bio-Technology and Genetic Engineering.
Under an agreement signed between the USAID and HEC, the University offers need based scholarships to the talented students who are incapable of meeting the cost of their education. Under this programme the University awards scholarships to 75 students at the B.Sc. and 55 scholarships at the Master level from 2005 to 2009.
One of our faculty, got first position throughout Pakistan in GRE test during 2003. In 2004 again two of our faculty got 2nd and 3rd position in the country in GRE exams.
In the 2004 recruitment examinations of the Pakistan Agricultural Research Council, based on Pakistan level through open competition, the graduates of this University excelled in many areas, reflecting the institutional capacity and capability of the management and faculty of the University.
In these pursuits the University has been enjoying the patronage of the Governor/Chancellor, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Universities and that of the Government of Pakistan, and Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The present Government through Higher Education Commission (HEC) has been providing unprecedented support and financial help to The University. The University appreciates the efforts of Prof. Dr. Ataur Rehman, Chairman HEC for his endeavours in this respect.
Since July, 2005 the University has managed to present Vision 2020 to the HEC for the next 15 years for about 13 billion rupees. Every year HEC will provide us about 800 to 1000 million rupees. This year the University has submitted a mega project for Rs. 500 million to the HEC for strengthening Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Agricultural University which include
- Academic Blocks
- Male Students Hostels of 400 rooms and 200 rooms
- Female Students Hostel of 200 rooms
- Central Lab and lab equipments
- Foreign Faculty Rest House for about 30 million rupees has already been approved.
Another PC-I of Rs. 40 millions rupees for Sports Complex, students services center and sports grounds has also been submitted and will be approved very soon.
During this period the University has also developed collaborations with USAID, USDA, GEF, ICIMOD, SDC, JAICA, SRSP, PARC and NARC for joint projects. Their delegations have visited our University in this regard and have signed agreements with us. USAID is sponsoring our Center of International Linkages and Services and training programmes for Afghan professionals in agriculture and livestock sectors.
The USAID through the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has also awarded 130 scholarships for needy and deserving students. The amount of scholarship is Rs. 1,07,000/- per student per year, which is tenable for 04 years. During 2005, Rs. 55 lacs have been distributed amongst the needy and deserving students. This year the University has got even more scholarships. JAICA, through the HEC, will also provide such need based scholarships to our students from this year.
The USDA team has committed financial support to this University and will provide 8 million dollars as endowment fund. The interest on this fund will be utilized for sponsoring research projects, especially the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Southern FATA in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is basically an agricultural land where only .063 million hectare is cultivated whereas 1.56 million hectare of cultivable land, consisting of marginal lands and mountains, is uncultivated.
The development of agriculture in this area is synonymous to the development of the people. The growers of the area give more importance to fruits culture because of high value. The soil and climatic condition of the area are quite congenial for cultivation of fruits and vegetables. To bring the uncultivated land under agriculture use, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar is thinking of establishing research stations in the FATA areas
The University and ICIMOD have jointly initiated three projects (i) Indigenous Honeybee Protection worth Rs. 6 million (ii) Global Programme on Pollination worth Rs. 6 million and (iii) Real B-III (i.e. Built-Back-Better) Project for rehabilitation of agriculture and livestock in the earthquake affected areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir. The Real B-III project is being sponsored and financed by ICIMOD, MINFAL, DFID, WFP and Govt. of Pakistan.
SDC (Swiss Development Centre) and The University of Agriculture, Peshawar are jointly working on PLI Project in the Southern Areas in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. SDC is also providing scholarships @ Rs. 3,000/- per month tenable for 5 years to our Female DVM Students since January 2005.
Besides curricular and co-curricular pursuits, the University has also been in the forefront in social work activities. During the recent earthquake massive disaster in part of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Azad Kashmir, The University of Agriculture, Peshawar provided financial, material, physical and moral help to the earthquake affectees. More than 60 faculty, officers and staff alongwith 400 students of the University worked in the field. The University established six camps in Abbottabad and Mansehra as focal points for relief activities. The transport of the University was engaged to provide food stuff and clothing and to shuttle patients. All our faculty and staff contributed 6 days salary in the Relief Fund.
The management, faculty, researchers and students of The University of Agriculture, Peshawar are committed to further excellence in agricultural education and research, which will ultimately help in the development of the province in particular and the country at large.
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