Birsa Agricultural University

About Birsa Agricultural University

Birsa Agricultural University was established on 26th June, 1981 after its formal inauguration by the then Prime Minister of India, Late Smt. Indira Gandhi. It was established keeping in view of the specific agriculture features of Chotanagpur and Santhal Parganas in Bihar. There was also a need to develop area specific technologies and manpower in the field of agriculture, animal husbandry and forestry for the agricultural development of the plateau region of Bihar and economic upliftment of tribal and other backward class population of the region. The programmes and activities of education, research and extension are carried out through  thirty five departments, College of Biotechnology, six Directorates, three Zonal Research Stations and farms, one University farm, twelve Krishi Vigyan Kendras, Computer Centre, Central Library and other infrastructure and service units. Being a completely residential university, hostels for boys and girls, and residential facilities for Teachers/Scientists and supporting staff have been provided in the campus.

Constituent Institutes

• College of Bio-Technology - Tissue Cultured Plantlets Production is a major activity of the College besides Post Graduate Programme in Biotechnology. The College has seven sections: Tissue Culture, Molecular Biology, Bio-chemistry, Microbiology, Embryo Transfer Technology, Fermentation Technology & Bioinformatics.

• Centre of Agribusiness Management - The Centre provides a new programme implemented by the University from 2007. The course focuses on creating manpower with domain knowledge of agricultural sciences and the concepts of business management to serve as professionals in agriculture, food industry and rural business.

Location - The University is located, on Ranchi - Patratu Road , about 8 km north of Ranchi town, about 13 km north of Ranchi Railway Station and about 17 km north of Ranchi Airport . The location stands at 85019'E and 23017'N and 625 meters above mean sea level.

Faculty

• Agriculture.
• Veterinary Sciences & Animal Husbandry.
• Forestry.

Facilities

Hostels - University is having altogether 14 students hostels out of which 5 are for girls while rest 9 are for boys. All the hostels are equipped with modern facilities like, computer, internet, telephone, common rooms with magazines, newspapers and XV. Each hostel is having indoor game facilities. One Gym has also been provided to boys and girls hostel. In each hostel, Mess is being managed by the University and equipped with modern essential items. Each hostel is connected with generator to ensure uninterrupted power supply.

Central Library - The Library has 35,236 number of books, 899 - Thesis, 4,247 - Old Bound Volume Journals. It subscribes to 45 Indian Journals and 7 Magazines.

Computer Centre - It has has two components namely Agricultural Research Information System (ARIS) Cell and Computer Labs. Apart from these, it also consists of Class Room and Conference Room. RIS Cell and Computer Labs are well equipped with state-of-the-art hardware and software. The departments of different faculties, RAC Library, Central Library, Administrative Building and Faculty of Forestry are connected through high speed connectivity. The campus has Wi-Fi connectivity for easy access of Internet. There are 6 high tech computer labs equipped with all necessary latest software's and hardware's to empower computer aided teaching. There is round the clock power backup with 24/7 high speed broadband Internet connectivity.

Research Projects

These include:

1) I.C.A.R.'S Coordinated Projects

1. AICRP on ORP Dryland Agriculture.
2. AICRP on ORP Dryland.
3. AICRP on Agro-forestry.

2) ADHOC Projects

1. Adhoc Project on Precision Farming Development Centre (PFDC).
2. Adhoc Project on Poverty Alleviation of Tribal Areas Through Quality Seeds.
3. Adhoc Project of Integrated Nutrient Management in Rice Based Cropping System Copper Mines Area of East Singhbhum (Jharkhand) for Higher productivity.

3) Other Collaborative Projects

1. Rockefeller Foundation Sponsored Project on Development of Drought Resistant Varieties of Rice in Rain fed Upland Through Participatory Plant Breeding.
2. CIMMYT- Wheat BAU-GVT –DFID Funded Project on Participatory Research to Increase the Productivity and Sustainability of Wheat Cropping System in the Eastern Subcontinent of South Asia .
3. IRRI /ICAR/BAU Collaborative Project on Rice.
4. Agro- Advisory Service (NCMRWF).

4) Plan Schemes

1. ZRS, Chianki.
2. ZRS, Darisai.
3. ZRS, Dumka.

5) Non Plan Schemes

1. Horticultural Research.
2. Agronomical Research.
3. Entomological Research.
4. Plant Pathology & Virus Research.

Laboratories

Some of these are:

• Leaf tissue analysis Laboratory.
• Aquaculture Laboratory.
• Referral Veterinary Clinic with Advanced Diagnostic Laboratory.
• Integrated Farming System Unit.
• Seed Science & Technology Laboratory.
• Forest Products & Utilization Laboratory.

Institutional Area and Farm Land - University at its headquarter at Ranchi has four colleges i.e. Agriculture, Veterinary, Forestry and Biotechnology which is spread over on an area of 354 ha. In addition to this, University has altogether 1250 ha of land at Ranchi including 1000 ha of land at Gauria Karma Farm, Hazaribagh. It has about 140 ha of land at different KVKs.

BAU Hospital - The University has been running a good hospital with a qualified doctor and nursing staff. This facility is available for the students & staff members of the University. For emergency, an Ambulance has also been provided under the control of Warden of Hostels.

Extension Education - Large number of training programmes are organized by Directorate of Extension Education. It conducts Off Campus Training and On Campus Training Programmes.

1.  Some of the Off Campus Training Programmes

• Organic farming.
• Integrated pest management in vegetables.
• Mushroom cultivation.
• Horticultural Science.
• Improved cultivation of roots and tubers.

2.  Some of the On Campus Training Programmes

• Agri-Clinic and Agri-Business Management.
• Supervisor's Training Programme.

Women's Employment Programme - Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) sponsored a special training programme for empowerment of women in agriculture under the National Agricultural Technology Project(NATP), Consequently, Department of Extension Education, Birsa Agricultural University , Ranchi (Jharkhand) put up a project proposal which was approved. The programmes were conducted during 2004-2005 in selected villages of Namkum Block in Ranchi district.

Green house, Glass House & Poly House - University has 7 Green houses, 4 glasshouses, 8 poly houses & 2 mist chambers for research, instruction as well as demonstration purposes. Students as well as farmers are trained about entrepreneurship development on protected horticulture technology in these poly houses.

Sports and Games - Altogether, 4 sports fields are in the University out of which two are well developed while the other two are in the process of development. An athletic coach trains the students. Each hostel has been provided with Table Tennis set, Badminton court (open and indoor) and other indoor games facilities. Recently, University has developed a Gymnasium with state of the art Gym items at a place where indoor game facility is also available. In RVC Campus a gym coach guides the students. Students of Agriculture, Veterinary and Forestry faculties have been provided with essential musical instruments required for cultural programmes.

Instrumentation Facilities - There is a Central Instrumentation Lab in different Faculties. Instruments are used for curricular research and research conducted under different projects. Some of these sophisticated instruments are: Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer, Gas Chromatograph, Automatic N Analyzer, Uv- VIS Spectrophotometer, Leaf Area Meter, Chlorophyll meter, Amino Acid Analyzer, Lyophiliser, Pressure Plate Apparatus, Photosynthesis Meter etc.

Video Conferencing - With the help of MANAGE, Hyderabad, Video conferencing facility was developed at ATIC, BAU. It is connected through ISDN. Through this facility farmers of this region are able to interact with scientists, agriculture officers and farmers of other states in India.
 
Birsa Hariyali Radio Station - It is a community Radio Station “Birsa Hariyali Radio" and was established in the ATIC with the help of Media Lab Asia and World Development Foundation, New Delhi. It started functioning on 3rd March 2008. The frequency allotted to this CRS is 107.8 FM. The coverage area of this CRS is 10 to 12 Km radius. Training for Radio Jockey is also being conducted after establishment of this radio station. One scientist is the In-charge of this Radio Station. One Co-ordinator and three Radio Jockeys have been engaged on temporary basis to run this CRS.
 
Veterinary Clinic - It is well equipped with diagnostic and curative equipments like x-ray machine, dialysis unit, surgery facility, for outdoor and indoor treatment to cater the needs of ailing animals. Recently one intensive care unit (ICU) has been made functional. There is separate house for owner of the animal.

Technology Park - There is one Technology Park situated in the main campus where the recommended technologies are demonstrated for farmers. Beside there is one four ha integrated Farming System Model for training, demonstration & research purposes.

ATIC - Agriculture Technology Information Centre) is equipped with Kisan Call centre and Birsa Hariyali Community Radio centre to fulfil the queries and requirements of farmers of the state.

Alumni - The Alumni Association is functioning in the individual colleges. It provides an effective platform to follow the career of the Alumni after graduation. University has created one Alumni Cell in the campus to facilitate the pass out students. University is also organizing Alumni meet each year to keep track of the pass out students. This helps in exchange of ideas, thoughts & draw up future plans. The Alumni of the University are occupying prestigious positions in the State and National level, in various SAUs, National Institutes, Research Institutes functioning under the ICAR, CSIR, Department of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, Horticulture, Women Development and Child Welfare, financial institutions, Agro-industries and Agri-business houses

Achievements

• Developed and released 14 appropriate rice varieties, 7 varieties of groundnut, two each of maize, maura, nigar, wheat and one each of pigeon pea, mustard black gram, horse gram, gundli, soyabean, French bean and cowpea.

• Rice varieties Birsa Dhan-108, Birsa Vikas Dhan-109, Birsa Vikas Dhan-110 and Birsamati: maize variety Birsa Vikas Makka-2 and mustard variety Shivani, released by Jharkhand State Seed Committee in 2003, have been notified by Central Seed Committee, Govt. of India on March 21, 2005. Birsa Vikas Dhan-109 has been released by State Seed Committee of Rajasthan and Gujrat also. Similarly, State Seed Committees of Tamil Nadu and Rajasthan have released birsa Vikas Dhan-110.

• Special commendation made by I.C.A.R for N.S.P. revival, N.A.T.P. performance and identification & validation of I.T.K.

Collaboration with Foreign Organisations

• Asia Pacific Association of Agricultural Research Institute (APAARI), Thailand.
• CIMMYT, Mexico.
• IRRI, Philippines.
• International Centre for Agricultural Research In The Dry Areas (ICARDA), Syria.
• International Crop Research Institute for Semi Arid Tropics (ICRISAT).
• International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), Syria.
• Rock Feller Foundation, USA.
• Mississippi State University, USA.
• University of Queensland, Australia.
• Asian Vegetable Research Development Centre (AVRDC), Taiwan.
• SAARC, Dhaka, Bangladesh.