The council of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) on Sunday gave its nod for setting up state-of-the-art centres of artificial intelligence and machine learning in agriculture, and innovation, incubation and entrepreneurship (IIE) in Jammu and Kashmir.

This decision was taken at the 34th meeting of the university council chaired by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at the Raj Bhawan here. The council gave in-principle approvals to various agenda points presented during the meeting, including the setting up of the centres and the establishment of the division of agro-meteorology at Shalimar, an official spokesman said.
The meeting was attended by Jammu and Kashmir chief secretary Atal Dulloo and principal secretary of the finance department Santosh D Vaidya, among others. The lieutenant governor commended the significant contribution of SKUAST-Kashmir in the extraordinary growth journey of the agriculture and allied sectors in the Union territory.

“The innovation-led initiatives and holistic approach of our agricultural universities are contributing in knowledge-based, technology-driven and sustainable agri-economy,” he added.

The meeting discussed the road map for developing SKUAST-Kashmir as the leading institution for agricultural education, innovations, entrepreneurship, leadership and research.

Sinha emphasized on taking research and innovation from lab to the fields to increase farmers’ productivity. He further issued instructions for starting short skill training courses for students and conducting a detailed study on yield gaps.

The meeting also deliberated on reforms to promote start-ups and entrepreneurship, opening up new frontier areas to drive smart and intelligent farming practices, besides resetting of goals and mandates of the university in tune with national goals and priorities, the spokesman said.