VIJAYAWADA: A total of 245 seats in agriculture and horticulture courses remain vacant across the State due to lack of awareness and inadequate publicity. These vacancies include 140 seats in private colleges affiliated to Acharya NG Ranga Agricultural University (ANGRAU) and 105 seats in colleges under Dr YSR Horticultural University (DRYSRHU). Of the 105 seats, 36 are in government and 69 in private institutions.
As of November 26, 1,461 of the 1,601 seats in 15 agriculture colleges, including nine government and six private, had been filled.
Seats were allocated based on APEAPCET (Andhra Pradesh Engineering, Agriculture and Pharmacy Common Entrance Test) ranks via counselling. Despite two rounds of web counselling and a mop-up round, officials are struggling to fill these seats. Of the remaining 140 vacancies, 26 fall under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category. Parents believe that poor publicity is the cause for the low enrolment in agriculture-related courses.
Speaking to TNIE, Sasi Kumar, a parent from Vijayawada, urged the government to take initiatives to promote agriculture and horticulture courses, stressing that their value will see manifold growth in the future.
‘Efforts on to fill remaining vacant seats’
He suggested offering direct admissions to students who did not qualify for APEAPCET, but are interested in pursuing these courses.
Kumar said many students are opting for admissions in other States.
ANGRAU Registrar Dr Gajula Ramachandra Rao noted despite three rounds of counselling, 140 seats remain vacant in affiliated colleges. He said discussions are on to explore possibilities for filling these seats.
Under DRYSRHU, five of the eight colleges are government-run, while three are private. Of the 105 unfilled seats, 66 are in the general, 27 under EWS, and 12 in management quota.
DRYSRHU Registrar Prof B Srinivas stated that further counselling is unlikely as classes commenced in October.