The Thursday counselling saw an increase in demand for agriculture and veterinary courses of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT). All 288 seats in BSc Agriculture and 80 of Bachelor in Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry (BVSc & AH), offered by nine colleges under OUAT, were filled up on the fourth day of counselling.
While the University has agriculture colleges in Bhubaneswar, Chiplima and Bhawanipatna, it offers BVSc & AH only in Bhubaneswar. In the wake of huge demand for BSc Agriculture, the State Government had earlier added 96 seats to the existing strength.
The agriculture and veterinary courses apart, of the 64 seats in BTech Agriculture, only 14 are vacant and the varsity administration is hopeful of an house full by end of the counselling process on Friday.
On the other hand, there have been few takers for Forestry (48 seats) and Home Science (32 seats).
“The demand for forestry and home science courses has declined drastically this year. Till Thursday evening, about 110 seats in horticulture, fishery, home science and forestry were vacant,” said OUAT Dean (Agriculture) and Chairman of Admission Council Board, Dibakar Nayak. With employment opportunities opening up in fields related to agriculture and veterinary science, students are opting for these streams, he added.
While only five seats in Forestry (general category) have been taken so far, no student has come forward to take admission in Home Science. Likewise, only half of the seats in both Horticulture (48 seats) and Fisheries (48 seats) streams had been filled up till now.
OUAT Vice-Chancellor D P Ray, however, said seats up for grabs will be filled by students on the waiting list.