Message From Office Head

Message from the HoD Far Western University (FWU) has been striving to provide quality education at affordable prices so that people from even the lowest quintiles of the population have reach to higher education. Several programs (undergraduate, graduate and higher level) on management, education, science, arts and humanities, etc. has been offered from the very beginning of the establishment of FWU. Further, the university is always striving to introduce courses that are relevant for the overall development of the economy, especially in the far western region. In line with it, since agriculture is the mainstay of more than two-third of the population in this region, it is unquestionable that priority should be given to agricultural education if the economy of the region is to grow. Looking at this scenario, FWU realized that there is a need to expand its program and include agriculture since teaching, research and extension of agriculture is vital for the majority of the population in this region. Agriculture alone could contribute significantly to the economic development of far western region and hence it is justifiable to start Faculty of Agriculture (FoA). Keeping this in mind, in 2075 (2018), the university started B.Sc.Ag. program in one of its constituent campus, namely Tikapur Multiple Campus (TMC) where the central School of Agriculture (SoA) is being established. Each year, 100 students are enrolled in this program and currently the third batch of students had been enrolled. From 2077, SoA decided to enrol around 10 in-service students working in the government sector. The curriculum of SoA/FWU was developed by senior academicians having long experience in this sector (working in agriculture sector, especially teaching) and hence it could be compared not only to similar programs already being ran by the national level institutions but also is comparable to the international level courses. The government alone is demanding high number of professionals in agriculture to meet its demand as per the newly structured federal system of Nepal having around 753 local level government bodies, 7 provincial ministries and 1 each of department and ministry at central level. Other development and research organizations have also high demand for agricultural professionals and hence there is high scope of graduates in agriculture from FWU. With changing global scenario, the curriculum has introduced some unique courses like that related to Geographical Information System (GIS) and Nanotechnology; Project Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E); Organic Agriculture; NUS Crops and Biodiversity; Environment, Climate Change, and Disaster Management; etc. Besides, there are one practical business-oriented course each in the Animal Science and Aquaculture Divisions, Agronomy Division and Horticulture Division that helps students to focus on commercial aspect of the production. In Agricultural Economics Division there is one course that focuses on finding out the economic and financial aspect of the agricultural production by getting directly involved in it. These topics are not only in high demand in national/international level but also will help entrepreneurship development if the students are interested. The School has its own building with sufficient classrooms to accommodate all the four batches of students simultaneously. Moreover, there is a plan for infrastructural development in the near future. There are labs for practical classes, library (ever expanding as per requirement), e-library with computer and internet facility and sufficient land for field based practical classes and experiments. There are also fish ponds, livestock shed, etc. that can be used for aquaculture and animal science studies, if needed, in future (for conducting practical classes). In each class around 50 students are taught though the capacity is to accommodate around 100 students. Teaching-learning process depends on course in-charge, however, each class has wall-mounted projectors for effective teaching through power point presentations, audio/visuals, etc. Faculties (teaching staff) at FoA/FWU are also from diverse background and have rich experience of several years working in governmental organizations, national and international non-governmental organizations, research and consulting institutions, academic institutions, etc. thus delivering the theoretical knowledge blended with their experience from diverse sectors. The agriculture program was established by the Far Western University in Shrawan 2075. The notice for student’s entrance/admission was opened in 2075 Shrawan 25 (within less than one month) and the number of student that applied for studies were around 545. In the very first year of establishment, this was phenomenal and even beyond the expectation of everyone. Thus, this program was able to attract considerable number of interests. In the coming years, therefore, the administration is hopeful to receive more applications from the prospective students. Looking at post-graduation opportunities (graduates from other institutions), agricultural graduates are usually employed in governmental organizations, non-governmental and international non-governmental organizations, research and consulting firms, etc. Some opt for higher studies inside or outside the country. Many of the past agricultural graduates have also opted for study abroad and some of them are working in foreign countries with lucrative offers at hand. A few of the agricultural graduates are also role model for farmers since they are involved in core farming (agribusiness) and are also providing examples for the future graduates with both name, fame and money from the agricultural entrepreneurship. However, DoA is yet to graduate its students and the performance of our graduates are still untested although we have high hopes. The major features and strength of the newly established SoA/FoA in the TMC can be enlisted (including but not limited to) as follows: • It is the first such program in the entire far western region and is established and owned by the national university itself. • It is the core and the very first program of the FWU. SoA running in the TMC is also the Central School of Agriculture under SoA/FWU. • The curriculum of B.Sc.Ag. course is comparable to international level courses and have introduced several new subjects that will outstand the graduating students in their field. • Faculties (teaching staff) possess working experience in diverse sector thus linking practical examples directly from their experience at the field to deliver theoretical knowledge to the students. • The Campus (TMC) is located in the vicinity of both the farming households as well as is close to the town. • The Campus (TMC) has its own land spread over 253 hectares (380 Bighas). • The FoA has already done MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the Gyeongsang National University, a national university under the Ministry of Education of Republic of Korea. This is a major achievement since the faculty is in its initial years. There are also possibilities of collaboration with universities from other countries like India, Japan, Australia in future, which is a positive point. • FoA is undergoing discussion with some Japanese Institutions for on-the-job-training and internship of final semester students. Ministry of Agriculture, Far Western Province has also allocated considerable amount of money for this purpose entitled "Earn While Learn" where student can conduct their internship. • It is receiving considerable funding regularly from UGC, Provincial Ministries (Agriculture, Social Development, etc.) and other such institutions. • Striving to develop Tikapur as an Agriculture Hub. With this background, we are confident that the prospective students will consider FoA/FWU as their first choice for agricultural studies. The admission requirements for the faculty is also neither too restrictive nor lenient. Students with I.Sc. or 10+2 (Science) or 3 years Intermediate in Agriculture or equivalent securing a minimum of 50% marks in aggregate (or equivalent, that is, CGPA 2.4 or Grade of C+) from any recognized Universities or Boards are eligible to apply for B.Sc.Ag. The selection for admission is on merit basis through an entrance examination. However, students must secure 50% marks in entrance examination (passing marks for enrollment). Girl and students from disadvantage group are provided some preferences in terms of reserved quota. Around 25% of the students get scholarship for studies and they need not pay other fees than regular semester/tution fees, examination fees, etc. However, even for the students that are unable to receive any scholarships, the study cost is the least compared to other universities of Nepal and abroad. The FWU is, thus, providing cheap education to reach out to the population who cannot afford expensive higher education. I would personally like to welcome our prospective students in the Department of Agriculture, FoA/FWU. Thank you. Dr. Kiran P. Bhatta, Head of the Department (HoD), School of Agriculture Faculty of Agriculture, Far-western University