Tamil Nadu Agricultural University

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University

தமிழ்நாடு வேளாண்மைப் பல்கலைக்கழகம்
Type	Public
Established	1971
Vice-Chancellor	Dr P. Murugesa Boopathi
Location	Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	ICAR
Website	www.tnau.ac.in

Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) came into being on June 1, 1971. However, it had its genesis from establishment of an agricultural school at Saidapet, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, in 1868 and was later relocated at Thadagam road in Coimbatore.

History

In 1920, Agricultural College, Coimbatore was affiliated with Madras University. Until 1946, the Agricultural College and Research Institute, Coimbatore, was the only institute for agricultural education in South India. In 1958, it was recognized as a postgraduate centre leading to Masters and Doctoral degrees. The Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai was established in 1965. These two colleges formed the nucleus of the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University when it was established in 1971.

In 1972, degree programmes in B.Sc. (Horticulture) and B.E.(Agriculture) were started. In 1979, a separate Faculty of Horticulture was established. In 1980, a B.Sc.(Home Science) programme was started at Madurai campus. The third Agricultural College was started at Killikulam in 1984, and the fourth at Kumulur (Trichy) in 1989 and later shifted to Navalur Kuttappattu (Trichy) in 1992 which is named as Anbil Dharmalingam Agricultural College and Research Institute. During 1985, B.Sc.(Forestry) programme was started at Coimbatore.

Presently the B.Sc.(Horticulture) degree programme is being offered at Horticultural College and Research Institute, Periyakulam and B.Sc.(Forestry) degree programme at Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam. BE (Agri)and B.Tech Agrl. Engg. are at Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute(AEC&$RI), Kumulur. Additionally, it has four affiliated colleges viz., PAJANCOA & RI [1] in Karaikal, Adhiparasakthi Agri college in Kalavai, Rovers in Perambalur and one at Pollachi.

Courses

The B.E.(Agriculture) hitherto offered was offered as B.Tech.(Agricultural Engineering) from 2002 at Agricultural Engineering College and Research Institute, Kumulur near Trichy. B.Sc.(Home Science) degree programme is being offered at the Home Science College and Research Institute, Agricultural College Campus, Madurai. The Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru College of Agriculture & Research Institute, Karaikal, governed by Government of Puducherry, is an affiliated institute of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University where the B.Sc.(Agriculture) course is being offered.

Apart from these academic institutes, the university now has research programmes at 32 stations, spread over in Tamil Nadu with 1000 scientists and teachers. The introduction of B.Tech.(Food Process Engineering) from 1998, B.Tech.(Agricultural Biotechnology) and B.Tech.(Horticulture) from 2002 as a self-supporting program has created avenues for budgetary independence. A degree program known as B.Tech.(Energy and Environmental Engineering) was started during 2004. From 2006 a B.Tech (Bio Informatics) was started.

B.Tech(Agricultural Information Technology) began in 2007. This B.Tech combines agriculture and information technology, providing four major electives - one is Weather Forecasting. In this elective students are exposed to Parallel processing technology and Atmospheric science with the WRF and Reg-CM weather models. In another module of Data Mining, the courses offered are Data Mining and Knowledge Discovery Databases, SAS Programming, SPSS and MATLAB, Oracle Data Mining, Java Data Mining, Data Mining and Business Intelligence.

Development

• 1868 Agricultural School was started at Saidapet, Chennai (Madras)
• 1906 The Saidapet Agricultural School was shifted to Coimbatore and foundation stone laid for Madras Agricultural College.
• 1908 Students were admitted to education program leading to Licentiate in Agriculture (L. Ag.)
• 1909 Opening of Agricultural College and Research Institute (AC and RI) by Sir Arthur Lawley.
• 1920 The AC and RI was affiliated to Madras University. A new course of study leading to a three year degree in Agriculture (B.Sc.(Ag.) was started.
• 1945 Second Agricultural College was started at Bapatla (Now in Andhra Pradesh).
• 1958 Regional Post-Graduate Center was established to offer programs leading to Masters degree in Agriculture and Horticulture.
• 1960 Integrated system with four year B.Sc. (Ag) degree program after Pre-University education was introduced and subsequently doctoral program in Agriculture was started.
• 1965 Third Agricultural College was started at Madurai, Tamil Nadu and the Masters program at Madurai was introduced during 1969.
• 1971 The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University came into existence with Coimbatore as its Head Quarters.
• 1972 A separate Faculty of Horticulture was established and a degree program in Horticulture - B.Sc. (Hort.) was introduced. The College of Agricultural Engineering was established at Coimbatore and a Bachelor's degree program in Agricultural Engineering - B.E.(Ag) was introduced.
• 1973 Doctoral program was introduced in Horticultural College and Research Institute, Coimbatore.
• 1975 Faculty of Post Graduate Education was established in TNAU, Coimbatore and Masters and Doctoral (1978) programs were started in Environmental Sciences and Biotechnology.
• 1976 The Madras Veterinary College became constituent unit of TNAU and B.V.Sc. degree program was suitably restructured*.
• 1977 Bachelor's degree (B.F.Sc.) program in Fisheries Science at Thoothukudi was started. Masters and Doctoral program in Agricultural Engineering was introduced.
• 1980 Bachelor's degree (B.Sc. (H.Sc.)) in Home Science was launched in Madurai Campus.
• 1981 Masters program was introduced in Home Science College and Research Institute, Madurai and Doctoral program in 1988.
• 1989 Doctoral program in Agriculture was introduced in Agricultural college and Research Institute, Madurai; Masters program introduced in Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam and Horticultural College and Research Institute, Periyakulam.
• 1990 Masters program in Agriculture was introduced in Agricultural College and Research Institute, Killikulam, Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu and Doctoral program in Forest College and Research Institute, Mettupalayam.
• 1998 B.Tech.(Food Process Engineering) introduced as self supporting program.
• 2002 B.Tech.(Horticulture) and B.Tech(Agriculture Biotechnology) introduced as self supporting programs.
• 2004 B.Tech.(Energy and Environmental Engineering) introduced as a self supporting program.
• 2006 B.Tech.(Bioinformatics) introduced as self supporting programs.
• 2007 B.Tech(Agricultural Information Technology) a unique degree introduced as a self supporting program

Notable alumni

• M. S. Swaminathan - Father of the Green Revolution in India
• Dr.R.K.Sivanappan - international scientist on soil and water conservation, father of drip irrigation in India
• V.Sivakumar (Forest Genetics and Tree Improvement)