The OUAT (Amendment) Bill-2011, passed in the State Assembly this week, empowers the university to grant affiliation to private institutes for imparting education in agriculture. As an educationist, do you feel the quality of education would suffer due to this?

That was actually a concern. Private colleges can come up only if they fulfil certain conditions and get our clearance. After establishment, the university should monitor them. But as an educationist, I feel education shouldn’t be commercialised.

How many private organisations have shown interest in setting up institutions?

We have one or two proposals. We would like private colleges to come up not in Bhubaneswar but in other parts where there are no good institutions. But quality control must remain in the university’s hands. As the vice-chancellor of OUAT, I can assure you that we would always focus on maintaining quality and standard as per the norms of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

The Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) is celebrating its golden jubilee this year. What has been its contribution for the development of the state?

We are producing qualified students who serve as technical manpower in agriculture and allied sectors. Through applied research, we are involved in developing 128 varieties of agricultural products for our farmers. Krishi Vigyan Kendras have been set up in all the districts, of which 28 are functioning under OUAT and two others under the ICAR. Technology developed by the university in different faculties and in research stations is transferred to the farmers through scientists. We have developed low-cost farm machineries to combat labour scarcity.

But a lot of land has remained uncultivated, which means technology hasn’t reached all farmers.

Technology has to reach the farmers through extension departments of the government. We are pursuing this matter with the state government and our scientists. There are certain problems in terms of storage facilities and marketing.

The OUAT has appealed to its alumni to contribute generously for conducting the activities for the golden jubilee celebrations? How much funds do you require?

We have fixed a budget of Rs 25 lakh for round-the-year activities in all 30 districts. We have requested our alumni, government agencies and National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) to contribute. As a part of the celebrations, we have honoured some of our former vice-chancellors. We would invite noted agriculture scientists, Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, Dr. R.S. Paroda and all the former and present director generals of ICAR.

Although the government is spending a lot on research activities at the OUAT, has research brought about any significant change in the state?

Of course! With the increase in population, our production has gone up. Several varieties of fruits and vegetables are now available in every part of the state, which was not the case 10 years ago.

But many of the varieties are imported and not state-grown.

Whatever may be the case, fruits and vegetables are being made available. We send some of our products to neighbouring states and get a few from them.

Why has no green revolution taken place in Orissa so far, as it did in Punjab and Haryana?

In Orissa, our lands are fragmented and we have the tradition of share-cropping, unlike in Punjab and Haryana. We have marginal and landless farmers. But despite several agro-climatic problems, our state has received the highest agricultural productivity award in the second category for 2011.

How many students have been awarded Ph.D degrees so far?

In the last 50 years, 313 students have received Ph.D degrees. There are 61 agriculture universities in the country and OUAT is among the best 15 in terms of academic performance, teaching quality and research activities.

Last year, forestry students of the OUAT staged demonstrations from time to time demanding government jobs. What is the university’s placement scenario?

A percentage of forest rangers posts in the state are reserved for forestry students and right now there is no vacancy. But that is not a major issue. Around 90 to 95 per cent of our students get jobs with the state government, private companies or banks. Some appear for competitive exams.

The Opposition has raised the issue that the OUAT has seen overall development, while colleges affiliated to it have not been developed properly.

I don’t agree. Our constituent colleges are performing very well.

The OUAT has not updated its website. Has this come to your notice?

We have a director of planning, monitoring and evaluation who generally looks after the site. It has not been updated probably due to manpower crunch. Now that you have told me this, I will direct him to update it as soon as possible.

Green revolutionary

A noted agriculture scientist and educationist, 62-year-old Debi Prasad Ray completed his graduation in agriculture from the OUAT and went on to pursue a master’s degree in horticulture and Ph.D from the Calcutta University. Ray has occupied several positions in teaching, research and extension education at the OUAT and was appointed as the university’s vice-chancellor in 2006 and again in 2009

Ray specialises in biodiversity assessment, orchard efficiency, plant production techniques for fruits and nutrition of fruit crops and is associated with developing several varieties of vegetables and cashew nuts

At present, he is the acting chairman of the regional advisory committee of directorate of cashew research in Puttur, Karnataka, national research centre for orchids in Sikkim, central institute of horticulture for northern plains, Lucknow under the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). He is also the president of the Orissa Horticulture Society, Bhubaneswar, and vice-president of the Horticultural Society of India, New Delhi, and holds other key posts in agriculture organisations in the state and country

To his credit, Ray has published 100 research papers and has chaired a number of national and international seminars on horticulture and the workshops of ICAR. He has received several awards including the Think Orissa Leadership Award for Educational Institute of Excellence as a VC of a state university last year from the chief minister

What would you have been had you not been an academician?

Since childhood, I had an ambition to become a teacher. After completing my graduation from OUAT, I got a job offer from a bank, which I declined, although the pay structure was quite high then. Instead, I took up a state government job in Rourkela, where I was posted as a horticulturist. When I joined in the teaching faculty at OUAT, I thought I would retire as a professor or, at best, a dean. But with God's blessings, I became this university's vice-chancellor. I can say my aspirations have been fulfilled. If not an academician, I would have been working in a bank or in the horticulture department