RAU in Bihar gets central university status

Rajendra Agriculture University (RAU) at Pusa, Samastipur in Bihar has been given the status of a central university, Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh infomred

In a rare development, the bill to upgrade RAU into a central university was passed unanimously both by Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha on the same day.

"Subsequently, President Pranab Mukharjee signed it yesterday. ...With this, a long pending demand of the people of Bihar has been fulfilled," Singh said in a statement.

RAU will be known as Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University. The efforts were on for the last seven years to get the status of central university, he added.

Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University (Earlier, Rajendra Agricultural University) was originally established as India's first ever Imperial Agriculture Research Institute.

The foundation stone of the Agricultural Research Institute and college was laid by Lord curzon on the 1st of April, 1905. In his speech, the viceroy had expressed his vision that the seed he was planting would soon blossom out, making Pusa the nucleus of agricultural activities, research and education which would not only benefit Bihar and Bengal but the whole of the country and would attract the best of talents from India and abroad.

In separate meeting with the Bihar Planters Association, he fervently hoped that the institute would-be of immense service to them in their grave hour of crisis caused by the German Indigo scientist.Lord Curzon left by the end of 1905 and Lord Minto was his successor. Till the last minute he had seen through each and every detail of the Pusa project which virtually was his brainchild. Incidentally one major issue on which he had not agreed was the architecture of the main building, its wings, vaults and arches but finally he gave his consent of course with a stint. Rightfully, Pusa received an imperial status in 1918, being renamed as the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute (IARI).

In 1934, after a major earthquake rocked Bihar and which severely damage the main buildings, the Imperial Institute was shifted to the new Pusa campus in New Delhi and that eventually became Indian Agricultural Research Institute. What remained was downgraded to an agricultural research station until December 3, 1970, when the government of Bihar established Rajendra Agricultural University.

On 11 May 2016 Parliament of India passed the Central University Bill so that RAU, Pusa has been up graded to central University and named as Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University.

There are five faculties in the university in the disciplines of Agriculture, Veterinary & Animal Sciences, Agricultural Engineering, Basic Sciences, Humanities & Home Science, besides the college of agriculture, fisheries and institute of dairy technology. The university offers six undergraduate degree programmes, thirty three post graduate programmes and eighteen Ph.D. programmes. It is also the only university to provide an MBA in Agribusiness programme.

Gerbera Cultivation in Polyhouse, Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University

Agronomy, Entomology, Agricultural Economics, Nematology, Soil Science, Extension Education

Plant Breeding and Genetics, Forestry, Plant Pathology,Agril Biotechnology and Molecular Biology, Microbiology