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Contribution in Administration

Administrative experience

I. As Special Officer – Directorate of Publications & Public Relations, TNAU, Coimbatore – 641003.

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   As Special Officer (Publication), I motivated the scientists of my university to publish their innovation, agricultural information pertaining to their field of specialization and as a result around 549  Books / Booklets / Journal / Manuals / Folder / Broachers / Leaflet etc..  have been brought out by this Directorate within a period of 1 year and 6 months.

 

II. As DEAN (i/c), School of Post Graduate Studies, TNAU, Coimbatore- 03.

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A. First time organized a National Expo on “Assemblage of Innovative Ideas / Work of Post Graduate Agricultural Research Scholars” on 27th March 2015 at AC&RI, Madurai.

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The Dean (SPGS), TNAU in collaboration with Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai and Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust, Mumbai had organized the National Expo. The grant was fully supported by Sri Navajbai Ratan Tata Trust. Dr. S Natarajan, Honorable Vice- Chancellor, Ghandhigram Rural Institute, Deemed University, Dhindigul presided the Expo and delivered the inaugural address. A total of 251 candidates have registered for the expo, out of which 222 candidates have attended and displayed their posters belonging to 13 themes.

  1. Organized three Agricultural Graduate Student conferences in the
    year 2014, 2015 & 2016.

a. Second Agricultural Graduate Student Conference entitled “Sustainable Agriculture to FUEL (Feed , Unite, Educate & Lead) the Future” 2014held  from 6.5.2014 to 7.5.2014.

  • Extended abstract papers received     - 450 papers

  • Committee finalized                               - 431 papers

  • Presented by poster                               - 352 papers

  • Presented by oral                                    -   79 papers

  • 500 PG & Doctoral students of Agrl. & related sciences participated in the conference.

  • Chief guest participated -  Dr.K.R.Kranthi, Director, CICR, Nagpur; Mr.A.D.Padmasingh Isaac, Chairman & Founder, Aachi Groups; Ms. Sanila Velikeloth, TNAU Alumni,Nobel Peace Prize Award (2013) Organization for Prohibitions of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) Verification Officer, Netherlands

b. Third Agricultural Graduate Student Conference entitled “ Impact of climate risks on agricultural and horticultural productivity”  held from 13.5.2015 to 14.5.2015.

The conference was presided by Dr.S.Balachandran, Director, Indian Meterological Department, Chennai. 175 Extended abstract papers were received, out of which 143 papers were  finalized by the Committee. Students presented 81 papers by oral and 62 papers by posters.

C. Fourth Agricultural Graduate Student Conference entitled “Agricultural Skill Development to Foster the Future” held from 03.05.2016 to 04.05.2016.

 

 The 4th  Agricultural Graduate Students’ Conference (AGSC) held during 3rd&4th May 2016 on “Agricultural Skill development to foster the future” offered a stimulating venue for student research exchange and opportunity to broaden their social and scientific network among the students community.

Dr. S. Mohan, Dean, School of Post Graduate Studies, Coimbatore gave the introduction regarding the conference. The Inaugural Address was delivered by Dr. K.Ramasamy, Vice Chancellor, TNAU.

 

The extended summary proceedings of all papers submitted for the conference was released by the chief guest Dr. K. Ravi Kumar, Regional Head, Agricultural Skill Council of India, Bangalore.

 

A motivational speech on “Learning to lead “was also delivered by Dr. K. Ravi Kumar for the benefit of the student.

 

Dr. K.Raman, General Manager, Godrej Agrovet Limited, Andhra Pradesh gave a special lecture on “Entrepreneurial Skill for rural marketing & technology transfer”.

 

Around 350 Agricultural Graduate from different universities participated in the conference, 99 selected papers were present as oral covering 8 themes of agriculture and 151 posters were presented by the students which were evaluated by a team of scientists.

Technical Themes

  • Bio-sensor for agricultural and horticultural research.

  • Eco-friendly techniques for sustainable agriculture.

  • Genetic tools for sustainable agriculture.

  • Hi-tech horticultural skills.

  • Entrepreneurship skill for agricultural business development.

  • Newer extension strategies for agricultural technology dissemination.

  • Farm mechanization opportunities.

  • Techniques for self stable foods.

Other Activities

  1. First time I brought “Students Research Group meets” concept i.e. PG research scholars who are working on the particular area were grouped like ‘Maize group meet’, ‘Zinc group meet’ and ‘Humic acid group meet’ etc. so that they will have a coordinated research on a particular problem.

An example in this line…

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  2. I introduced First time in TNAU, the PG entrance examination pattern vis-à-vis All India competitive exams for admission to M.Sc and Ph.D programmes in TNAU. It is being implemented from 2014, resulted in admission of talented student from all over the country besides students from Tamil Nadu.

  3. Responsible for signing the MoUs between TNAU and other research institutes to have a collaborative research facility for the PG students.

    1. National Research Centre for Grapes, ICAR, Pune.

    2. ational Research Centre for Citrus, ICAR, Nagpur.

    3. Institute of Pesticide Formulation Technology, Gurgaon, Haryana.

    4. Central Agricultural Research Institute (CARI), Port Blair, Andaman & Nicobar Islands.

    5. Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd., Jalgaon, Maharastra.

  4. Implemented with the approval of Academic Council of TNAU- 2015, the movement of students between ICAR Institutes and State Agricultural Universities / Deemed Universities for facilitating training / postgraduate research work through execution of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), as approved by the Governing Body of ICAR Society in its 230th Meeting held on 12th march, 2014.

  5. Started the following new PG Programmes in the academic year 2015-16

    1. M.Tech - Storage Engineering

    2. M.Sc - Agricultural Statistics

III. Chairman of the Committee to Revamp and Revitalise the Agricultural School Education in Tamil Nadu:

               Impressed upon by the creative activity by the school students of Tamil Nadu, based on the technologies developed by me, I was appointed as the Chairman of the Committee to revamp and revitalise the Agricultural School Education in Tamil Nadu. I feel this is the greatest achievement in my life as School Education is very important in shaping the future of the student community. The new 11th Standard Agricultural Practices I Book which is currently read by around 25 thousand school students has a chapter on Importance of Post Harvest Technology in which the TNAU probe trap is highlighted.

 

             As "Chairman" I made significant reforms in Agricultural education in Tamil Nadu Schools. The old curriculum structure which was in practice in Tamil Nadu around last 20 years was revamped and a common text book, Agricultural Practices I and Agricultural Practices II (for 11th and 12th standard schools) was introduced in the year 2010-11, 2011-12 respectively. First time in the curriculum Practical Guide was introduced for 11 and 12th standards in Tamil Nadu.

 

Significant reform

            Earlier there were many subjects like Crop Management, Crop Protection, Vegetable Cultivation, Agricultural Chemicals, Poultry, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Marketing. Schools were free to choose any of the books on subject above for 11 and 12th standard. This was in practice for several years.

 

Disadvantage

            Students from the above stipulated curriculum, studied only one subject Eg:  A students who completes 11 and 12 standard in "Crop Protection" knows only crop protection without any knowledge of crop science. Similarly for other subjects also. This led to a great problem when they got admitted to Diploma or Degree course after 12th standard in Agriculture. Hence I made a major change in this concept. Further it was not practical oriented earlier. I changed this.

MAJOR REFORM

 

Students currently undergoing 11 and 12th standard in vocational stream Agriculture, will now have two books :

 

11th standard Agricultural Practices I. This gives a broad basic knowledge in agriculture including Animal Husbandry, Fisheries Marketing Farm Machinery etc.

12th standard - Agricultural Practices II. This gives a detailed knowledge on Important Crops of Tamil Nadu - Cultivation and Management, Animal Husbandry Management etc.

 

First time

  • Practical guide for 11th standard and

  • Practical guide for 12th standard were introduced.

            This help in acquiring skills in practicing agriculture by the students so that they can get employment in agro-based industries after their school education.

 

            Eg: Seed industry, Honeybee rearing, Cut flower making, Fish culturing, Animal Husbandry management etc.

 

They can even be self employed.

 

Advantage of present Syllabus

            The greatest advantage of the present syllabus is that the students passed out from 2012 June have more practical knowledge on :

  • Agriculture

  • Veterinary

  • Horticulture

  • Fishery

  • Forestry

  • Agricultural Engineering

Whereas, old curriculum students do not have these facilities. So there will be good competition, hence our "Rural Students" are expected to perform very well in the Degree / Diploma Programme equal to their counterparts from 11, 12 standard Science students in Agriculture and Allied Subjects.

 

This is a revolutionary step in Rural Agricultural Education I made as Chairman.

IMPACT ON NEW CURRICULUM (School Education)

A typical example to show my administrative ability in getting things done to people to be specific, in getting a GO from Government of Tamil Nadu in favour of the 12th Std. Students (Agriculture - Vocational) regarding admission to B.V.Sc. and AH and B.F.Sc. Undergraduate Programmes in Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS).

 

  1. Results of 12th Standard Exam was published by the Government of Tamil Nadu on May 22nd 2012.

  2. Passed out and eligible students started applying for UG programme in Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (TANUVAS).

  3. First time, students under new syllabus, Agricultural Vocational Stream (Agricultural Practices II) applied for the above courses as the syllabus (Theory and Practical) was framed in such a way to have thorough knowledge on Animal Husbandry, Livestock Sciences and Fishery Science, besides Agriculture. (Separate Books for theory and practical).

    1. Note : Under old syllabus Animal husbandry, Livestock and Fishery Science subjects were taught separately under +2 level as Individual subjects with "No practical books" in limited schools only based on students' option. Majority of the schools in Tamil Nadu offered only Agricultural Science related courses. So students who studied only this Animal Husbandry, Livestock and Fishery Science subjects could apply for UG programmes in these subjects in TANUVAS. These students were less in numbers as only very few schools in Tamil Nadu offered this subject.

  4. Based on the enquiry from students and teachers (around 3 - 4th week of May 2012) I could understand that a separate GO has to be obtained for this.

  5. Meanwhile TANUVAS called for application for UG admission and fixed last date on 14th June, 2012.

  6. Though my Chairman assignment was completed long back (2010), I took this matter with Director, School Education and in turn with Secretary, School Education, Govt. of Tamil Nadu by writing a detailed letter regarding this.

  7. By May 25th, based on my letter, Director, School Educatoin with the approval of Secretary, School Education, Govt. of Tamil Nadu sent letter in this regard to Registrar, TANUVAS.

  8. By June 12th, Government order (GO MS No.111 dt. 12/6/2012) in this regard was issued (copy). Based on this University extended the date (Advt. copy) till 28.06.2012.

Daily Thanthi 14-06-2012

Thus a great door has been opened for our Rural students who mainly study Agriculture in their +1 and +2 level to become future

VETERINARY DOCTORS

of our country.

 

This I feel the greatest achievement in my life.

I was appointed as the Chairman of the Committee

to revamp and revitalise the Agricultural School Education in Tamil Nadu.

Based on my contribution in 2010 – 2012, I was Re-appointment as Chairman of the Committee to Revamp and Revitalise the Agricultural School Education in Tamil Nadu during the year 2017.  The text book for 11th standard - Agricultural has been completed and handed over to the Tamil Nadu government.

iii. OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE WORK ASSIGNED TO ME

 

I. NATIONAL

  1. Nominated as Principal Investigator (PI). Entomology from January 2012 – June 2013 under All India co-ordinated cotton improvement project by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research New Delhi.

 

Coordinated the activities all over India pertaining to Cotton Entomology Research.

2. Appointed as a Member of Varietal Identification Committee for Cotton by Indian Council of Agricultural Research New Delhi. (2012 – 2013)

 

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  3. Nominated as Member of Institution Biosafety committee of Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu for 3 years from 2009-2012 by Dept. of Biotechnology, GOI.

  4. Nominated as member of All India Co-ordinated Cotton Improvement Project. Monitory Team. 2011-2002, 2003, 2003 for Monitory the entomology trials in different AICCIP centers of India.

  5. Acted as Member Secretary for conducting the monitoring of the front like demonstration and AICCIP project trials by ICAR in 2002.

  6. Nominated as member of monitoring team constituted by the monitoring cum evaluation committee (MEC) in the Dept. of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology. Govt. of India. during 2002, 2003 and 2004.

  7. Nominated by Agricultural Scientists recruitment Board, New Delhi, to serve as member of the Assessment Committee of Sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICAR), Coimbatore 641 007, Tamil Nadu for Technical Assistance Promotion.

  8. Research Project / Journal Reviewer- Acted as reviewer for project proposals from Ministry of Science and Technology, Indian Council of Agriculture and reviewer for NAAS rated Indian Journals.

  9. Journal Reviewer for , an international journal in the field of stored product research having impact factor - 1.68.

  10. Research Project Approval Committee member of Indian Istitute of Crop Processing and Technology (IICPT), GOI, Thanjavur.

  11. Task of setting Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board NET/ ARS exam question paper.

  12. Member of evaluation committee of Agricultural Officer Recruitment by Tamil Nadu Public service commission.

  13. Member of PG Board of Studies, University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore from April 2014 for 2 Years.

  14. Member of Research Advisory Committee. Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology (IICPT), (GOI), Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu from 2013.

  15. Member of PG Board of Studies, Dr. Y.S.R. Horticultural university, Venkataramanagudem, West Godavari, Andhra Pradesh from July 2015 for 2 Years.

  16. Member of the technical group on Indian Grain Storage Working Group (IGSWG), ICAR, Govt. of India.

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