Vice President Venkaiah Naidu presented degrees to 1,385 students for undergraduate, postgraduate and research degrees at the 41st Graduation Ceremony held at the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.

The Vice President presented his address as thus: The essential need of our country is agriculture. Crop varieties that are profitable enough to withstand any weather and give high yields are essential. Modern agriculture is needed to provide food and nutrition to millions of people.

The economy was severely affected by COVID-19. By 2021, India will be one of the strongest economies in the world and recover from this. Corona has severely affected many sectors but agriculture was not greatly affected.

The area under cultivation has increased by an additional 59 lakh hectares in the last year. Food grain production for 2019–20 was 143.38 million tonnes. Various key factors are affecting agriculture, including increasing population, urbanization, global warming, and declining rainfall. Groundwater is polluted. It is unfortunate that groundwater pollution has increased, especially in Tamil Nadu.

Therefore drought tolerant seed, water saving and modern technology are essential. Tamil Nadu stands out in this regard with excellence and uniqueness. I was the one who presented the ‘Jalshakti’ award for water management on November 14, 2019. It is interesting that Tamil Nadu farmers are adopting many new strategies and many new crop varieties in the field of agriculture.

Genetic synthesis will yield higher yield to meet the challenges faced by the agricultural sector. Only new crop varieties will face challenges. Therefore, the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has been doing research work without delay. Due to new technology and genetic research, agricultural production has risen by 30 percent and costs by 20 percent. It is best to use nanotechnology to make more use of solar energy to meet future challenges. It is noteworthy that the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University has started a separate unit for nanoresearch in 2010.

The Central Government is doing various benefits for the sake of farmers. An annual stipend of Rs. 6,000 is provided through the Prime Minister’s Kishan Scheme. Nationwide, the scheme has reached 72 per cent of the farmers.

Subsidies will improve the economy of farmers across the country. Production prices, marketing, economic aid, will help agriculture griw. We must all work together to help improve agriculture. Graduating students must dedicate themselves to new technology and the development of farmers.

Farmers work not only for themselves but also for the people of the country. All departments should focus on them. There are hundreds of types of food in India. Especially the traditional dishes of Tamil Nadu including Vatta Kulampu, Mor Kurampu and such. Foods like pizza and burger are not suitable for our climate. Google cannot be an alternative to authors.

Governor of Tamil Nadu Banwarilal Purohit, Minister of State for Animal Husbandry Udumalai Radhakrishnan, Secretary of Agriculture Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Vice Chancellor of TNAU Vender Kumar and Registrar Krishnamurthy were also present at the graduation ceremony.