Peshawar: Chief Minister (CM) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Mahmood Khan directed the government officials concerned on Wednesday to evaluate the modalities of setting up an agriculture university in Swat, according to a news source.
Khan issued these instructions at a meeting held in Peshawar on Wednesday – attended by Minister Agriculture Mohibullah Khan, Minister Environment Ishtiaq Umar, and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Shahab Ali Shah, among others.
The CM stated that the primary aim of this project was to make quality agricultural education accessible to the local farming community through the installation of academic and research facilities in the area.
The officials present at the occasion also gave him a briefing regarding the academic/training departments proposed for the university – including centres for the following disciplines:
Horticulture sciences
Soil and environmental sciences
Plant protection
Food sciences
Agronomy
Livestock and veterinary sciences
Fisheries and aquaculture
Medical plants
Agribusiness
Forestry
Various technical diploma programmes
The CM remarked that the establishment of the said varsity was now a necessity – given the requirements of the National Agriculture Emergency Plan. To this effect, he directed that a technical team headed by the Secretary Agriculture should evaluate the facilities available and determine the resources required to initiate classes in the university, after working out a plan for the land acquisition and PC-I preparation for this project.
In addition, he revealed that the proposed varsity would use the Takhta Band Research Centre for its academic purposes until the completion of its building.
