The 9th Regional Meeting of Vice-Chancellors of the Indian Agricultural Universities Association (IAUA) was organized at Navsari Agricultural University where Kiranbhai Patel, Jt. MD, ASPEE Group of Companies was invited as a guest of honor. The meeting was focused on the theme: 'NEP-2020: Importance and feasibility of Short Term and Certified courses in Agricultural Universities.' During the inaugural ceremony, a document, 'PARIVARTAN-Change for the Development' was released by the dignitaries, which contained the 'key initiatives taken by Dr Z. P. Patel as Vice Chancellor for the transformation of the university into a knowledge power center.' Also, the latest issue 'Spectrum- A quarterly news bulletin' of NAU was also released.
Speaking as a Guest of Honour, Kiranbhai Patel, Jt. MD, ASPEE Group of Companies, Mumbai, expressed his gratitude for being associated with NAU for a long time. He introduced about ASPEE Agricultural Research and Development Foundation and highlighted the various activities they carry out through the foundation. Kiran Patel suggested that agriculture universities should introduce some short-term courses to improve the English language of the students coming from vernacular languages so that their English is improved and also tress more on practical knowledge in agriculture by making students cultivate some crops in a small piece of land at universities and also send them to stay with progressive farmers and learn more in cultivation. The suggestion given by Patel was appreciated by the participants.
While inaugurating the meeting through virtual mode Kailash Choudhary put forward a futuristic approach regarding agricultural education. He said that "India has a share of only 1% in the total number of students enrolled in agricultural education globally and that of 27% enrolled in higher education in all the disciplines in India. It is targeted to increase these percentages to 9% and 50% respectively by 2033." The inaugural ceremony was blessed with the virtual presence of Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, GoI Kailash Choudhary as a Chief Guest; Dr Z. P. Patel, Vice-Chancellor, NAU Navsari as President; Kiranbhai Patel, Jt. MD, ASPEE Group of Companies, Mumbai and Dr Kishorsinh Chavda, Vice-Chancellor, VNSGU, Surat, as Guests of Honour. Dr Rameshwar Singh, President of IAUA and Vice-Chancellor, BASU, Patna and Dr Dinesh Kumar, Executive Secretary of IAUA, as special guests.
Delegates of around 30 universities from Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar, Rajasthan, Punjab, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, and Andhra Pradesh attended the meet. Dr Z. P. Patel welcomed all the dignitaries and illustrated the agricultural technologies developed by NAU, such as Novel bio-fertilizers, bio-pesticides, fruit fly traps, banana pseudo stem, etc.
American Spring & Pressing Works Pvt. Ltd., better known by its name ASPEE, was established in 1946 by the astute businessman Lallubhai Makanji Patel. In an agrarian country like India, he recognised the necessity for plant protection, which resulted in the founding of ASPEE. The Aspee Group of enterprises was created from a tiny workshop that later evolved into a factory, making it one of the biggest businesses in the sector with more than 500 people. Battery sprayers, mechanised farm equipment, Knapsack power sprayers, portable power sprayers, agricultural mistbowlers & dusters, ULV sprayers, fogging machines, etc. are just a few of ASPEE's cutting-edge goods. The business also produces a range of spraying equipment, including nozzles, spray guns, telescopic lances, spray booms, and spray rigs that are appropriate for any purpose. ASPEE's guiding philosophy is the satisfaction of farmers.
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( With inputs from ANI )
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