PRESIDENTIAL SPEECH

Shrimati Margaret Alva

HER EXCELLENCY THE OF

7th Convocation of MPUAT

MPUAT 20th December, 2012 Udaipur (Raj.) 11: 00 A.M.

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 Dr. O.P. Gill, Vice-Chancellor,  Members of Board of Management and Academic Council,  Deans,  Faculty,  Staff,  Distinguished guests,  Recipient of degrees in this Convocation,  Ladies and gentlemen.

I am happy to be amidst you today, on the occasion of the Seventh Convocation of this University, which bears a name synonymous with the spirit of determination and perseverance, the legendary Maharana Pratap.

My greetings and best wishes go to the entire MPUAT family and to all those present here today,

pg. 2 in particular the new graduates, brimming with enthusiasm and dreams of a bright future.

Agricultural development in during the post-independence period has been quite impressive, based as it is on a multi-pronged approach encompassing the development of irrigation infrastructure, a supportive institutional framework, and development of location and commodity specific technologies as part of the overall policy support strategy of the Central and State Governments. The green revolution brought prosperity and increased yields to many parts of the country, making the country self sufficient in food as had promised. We have seen a fivefold increase in food grain production from 51 million tonnes in 1951 to the current estimates of 257 million tonnes. This is something we can all be proud of, even as we continue to strive for even higher levels of production and productivity.

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Presently we have around four dozen State Agricultural Universities in our country, including the MPUAT, Udaipur, which have been instrumental in developing and disseminating location and climate specific agricultural technologies. However, we are only too aware of the continuing challenges in agriculture. A major area of concern today is the declining share of agriculture in GDP without a corresponding shift in the proportion of the workforce engaged in agriculture. This is indicative of a growing divide between farm and non-farm incomes, with all its social consequences. There is also the very real problem of the rapid decline in the natural resource base, especially in terms of deteriorating soil health, decreasing availability of ground water and sometimes, adverse climatic conditions

pg. 4 attributed by many to ecological factors and climate change.

The slow growth in the production of certain crops like pulses and the large post-harvest losses sustained in the production of fruits and vegetables due to lack of cold storage and transportation support systems, further compounds the problem. Rising input costs, lack of cheap and timely credit facilities and failed rains are leading to rural distress and farmer suicides.

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These are areas of grave concern. The crises in agriculture is a wake-up call to us to address issues such as climate change, depleting groundwater, environmental degradation, the ever increasing diversion of fertile agricultural land for non-agricultural use, and lack of storage facilities for our surplus grain. You young scientists assembled here are equipped to respond and transfer your knowledge and skills to meeting these challenges facing Indian agriculture.

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There is an emerging need to bridge the gap in lab and land results, by delivering the technologies, best practices, success models, etc. through much stronger extension linkages. Research priorities need to be clearly defined, so that cutting edge technologies for improving productivity, suited to diverse agro climatic regions of our country could be developed. This would require public–private partnership in technology development, providing extension services, marketing infrastructure and information delivery systems, to bring about a revolution in farm management and value added services.

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Our future agenda will have to see a gradual shift from mere production increase to demand driven and value added agricultural products. Extension services will have to be further streamlined so as to meet the practical needs of our farmers for cost effective and income augmenting opportunities. New technologies and equipment must move from our University laboratories to the farms. Areas such as organic farming, multiple cropping, renewable energy sources, women's training and empowerment, rain water harvesting, water management etc will have to be given even more attention. I am sure this is not only possible, but eminently achievable, given the wealth of talent I see before me today.

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Award of degrees, fetches you graduates, another award i.e. a sense of responsibility. “I am responsible”—this very notion empowers you, with the right kind of power. When you feel you are responsible for your organization, for your country, for humanity, for the whole world, then you find yourself powerful and worthy of everything. You are not born for nothing, but for realizing great things in life. You are not educated for nothing, but for attaining the highest goals of life.

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Interestingly, despite the large variations in agro-climatic conditions with its attendant high risks for agriculture, Rajasthan has witnessed increasing production levels of a wide variety of cereals, pulses, oil seeds, spices, flowers, fruits and vegetables. The Indira Gandhi canal is converting our desert lands into lush green grass lands bringing self sufficiency in our fodder requirements.

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Taking this forward, our academic institutes, backed with adequate state-of-the-art infrastructural facilities, must ensure the continued capacity building of our budding agro- scientists. This must be done through greater emphasis on advanced teaching methods, research and the development of appropriate technology. I am happy to learn from the Vice Chancellor's report that the University has been working towards this end with support from the State Government and the ICAR.

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Albert Einstein had said, “There are only two ways to live your life. One is “as though nothing is a miracle”. The other is “as though everything is a miracle.” You are going out to serve the nation through the knowledge and the skills you have gained from this University. You have to develop the genius of an Indian which is within you. Each one of you must be a visionary. Look beyond your times. Be a miracle yourself and work for a sustainable world order. Have faith in yourself – you are a miracle. And you must prove it.

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I congratulate all the new graduates, the proud recipients of degrees and medals in various fields and urge you to be the new catalysts of change in your chosen fields of agricultural technology. I want you young men and women to take a pledge today not to deviate from your mission of service to society in general, and rural society in particular. The country needs you – the farmers look up to you – the farmlands beckon you. You have to be instruments for creating a vibrant ever green revolution in agriculture.

I commend the efforts of the Vice Chancellor, the faculty and staff of the University in grooming this promising group of young scholars, who will I hope be the pride of this University.

My best wishes to each one of you for a bright and happy New Year.

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JAI HIND

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