A four-day Rabi Kissan Mela organised by the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad as part of its golden jubilee celebrations concluded on Saturday. Addressing the audience, Vice Chancellor UAF Professor Dr Iqrar Ahmad Khan lauded the efforts made on the part of staff in order to make the celebrations a memorable event.
Talking about university's achievements, he said that the university had produced 50,000 graduates so far besides it had also produced 850 PhDs especially in the field of agriculture. He said that the university was ranked by the Higher Education Commission as one of the best universities imparting education throughout the country. He said as many as around 350 PhD holders were working with the university and out of them, 200 were foreign qualified, ensuring the quality of the education at the campus.
Faculty of Agriculture Dean Professor Dr Muhammad Ashfaq said the university was committed to providing quality education and uplifting the agriculture sector that is backbone of the country's economy. He also thanked the workers and audience for making the events a success story. Chairman Plant Breeding and Genetics Professor Dr Abdus Salam also spoke on the occasion. The shields were also given away to the convenors of various committees set up to run smooth functioning of the celebrations.
Some late agricultural scientists, who proved their mettle in the fields of agriculture and education of the university were also awarded Lifetime Achievements Award. The awards were received by their family members. The festival included agricultural exhibition, international conference, international seminar, Kissan Convention, Mehfal-e-Milad, cultural shows and many others programmes in which scientists from 30 countries across the globe participated.
It is worth mentioning here that the Agriculture College was upgraded to the status of university in 1961 named the University of Agriculture Faisalabad. To commemorate this historical event, the university declared the year 2011 golden jubilee celebrations each week is declared a golden jubilee of departments.
A large number of agricultural scientists across the globe visited the university in the celebrations helping the students get benefit from experiences of the scientists. Ayub Agriculture Research Institute clinched overall first position in Agri exhibition, while the Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Women Industrial Home got second and third position respectively.