ISLAMABAD, Nov 15: A project of Higher Education Commission (HEC) to set up an Agriculture College at the university of Sargodha has been approved by Central Development Working Party in its recent meeting.

The project includes development of 50 acres of land already provided to the University by the government of Punjab. Hostels will be built for girls and boys to meet the requirement of 500 students and 130 faculty members. It will include the latest developments in agriculture curriculum, teaching methodology and laboratory standards as well as promoting effective research and development activities in the agriculture sector.

The project also aims to produce a trained and skilled work force having a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship, capable of employing knowledge inputs for the rapid and sustainable agriculture developments of Pakistan.

The academic programmes to be run at the college include four- year Bachelor of Science agriculture, MSc, PhD as well as short courses ranging from 2-4 weeks in plant protection, computer application in agriculture, bee keeping, household pest management, poultry production, animal diseases, etc. Human resource development will include training of 15 PhD students abroad who will return to form the institution’s faculty.

The college will initially have the Department of Horticulture, Plant Breeding and Genetics, Molecular Biology, Soil and Environmental Sciences, Entomology, Plant Pathology, Agronomy, Agricultural Economics and Marketing, Animal Sciences, Forestry and Agricultural Extension.

The project will help the overall agriculture policy focus to raise productivity and profitability of the farming community enabling enhancement in living standards of the rural masses.

Opportunities for enhanced research is expected to increase productivity of crops, sustainable food security, promotion of horticulture, import substitution, crops diversification, water management, farm mechanisation, planning for land use agriculture export and agriculture marketing, livestock for the area.