Bringing to fore the culture and traditions of their respective States, students hailing from various agricultural universities across the country conjured up a spectacular cultural extravaganza during the inaugural ceremony of the 18th All India Inter-Agricultural Universities Youth Festival — ‘Agri Unifest 2018’ — at Sri Venkateswara Veterinary University (SVVU), here on Monday.
Dressed in vibrant and colourful costumes, students performed cultural numbers at the venue before going on a procession, transforming the commencement of the five-day event into a visual spectacle.
Minister of Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development and Fisheries Ch. Adinarayana Reddy, who presided over as the chief guest of the event, said that conduct of such events would not only promote harmony and national integration but also give the youngsters an opportunity to interact with their counterparts and come together on a platform to showcase their talents.
He said that they have been focussing on developments in veterinary field, with emphasis on the aspects of education and employment.
He said that allocation of Kisan Cards to those linked to the veterinary sector (besides the regular farming community) would enable them to avail loans and strengthen their efforts to build a sustainable entity.
“Besides this, the government will be initiating measures to increase the number of livestock and ensure its equitable distribution across the State,” he added.
He also urged the students to take part in several such national/international events to gain exposure.
IIT Tirupati Director K.N. Satyanarayana said that participation in such events, apart from mainstream academics, would enable the students to gain skills, right from planning logistics to fund raising (and several other aspects linked to the conduct of an event). He said that the flourish of educational institutions in and around the temple city, has created a great ecosystem for taking up multidisciplinary approaches and collaborations.
Knowledge hub
“Working together on major thrust areas would give a push to ‘science and innovation’ and transform Tirupati into a knowledge hub,” he said.
SVVU Vice-Chancellor Y. Hari Babu spoke on the proceedings of the talent festival, which would test the students in literary, dance, music, fine arts and theatre. He also said that nearly 2,000 students (including team managers etc.) from about 20 agricultural universities would be taking part in the event.
SVVU Dean of Student Affairs and Agri Unifest 2018 organising secretary K. Sarjan Rao and others took part.