For Manoranjan Kar, the new Vice-Chancellor of Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), bringing the University to national and international universities network tops the agenda. He wants to achieve this within his tenure of three years and has already identified tools, strategies and the process towards this goal. However, he is not forgetting the basic aim of the agriculture University - improving its education, research and extension standards.
Kar is preparing to draw a road-map for achieving his goal. Listing out his priorities, he said, “I want to see this university grow into a centre of excellence in the field of agriculture and allied sciences. I will use the best possible means to achieve this,” said a focused Kar.
“My immediate priorities include improving the quality of Basic Science education, the OUAT campus and community development,” he said.
The new VC said like other universities, OUAT also has limitations like funds and manpower for quality research.
“I plan to improve the infrastructure through externally funded projects. For this, I plan to tap all funding agencies including State Government and the Indian Council of Agricultural Research,” he said.
Subjects of research include climate change and agriculture, global warming, farm mechanisation, value-addition, food and nutrition security.
The university’s focus will now be on developing feasible and locally adaptable technologies to bring in livelihood security for small and marginal farmers through agriculture improvement. “Climate change is one of the most important research target as it is going to affect agriculture in the long run. University and industry can work together in this regard,” said Kar.
To bring in quality education, the University plans to evolve strategies which could keep the students as well as teachers abreast of every development in the field of agricultural and allied sciences. The new VC plans to create enough opportunities for students and teachers for training and research at renowned centres in the country and abroad.
Kar also plans to use the existing network of OUAT’s 31 Krishi Vigyan Kendras to make all technologies easily accessible to farmers.
Kar said he strongly believes that the success of any institution depends on its team. Hence, he prefers to work more as team leader than a boss.