A full-fledged department of Agricultural Biotechnology under the aegis of Faculty of Agriculture has been initiated in 2013-14 academic session with partial financial support by DBT, Govt. of India till 2016-17 academic sessions. This department was mutated from the erstwhile department of Biotechnology, Instrumentation & Environmental Science. The Department offers one compulsory course and one optional course in the plant science module to the undergraduate students in addition to M.Sc (Ag.) and Ph. D in Agricultural Biotechnology courses. The thrust areas of teaching and research are molecular biology, molecular breeding, molecular diagnostics, recombinant DNA technology, plant tissue culture & genetic transformation, genomics & proteomics, bioinformatics etc. The Department of Agril. Biotechnology has active interaction for research with a number of institutes, and associated faculty members are actively engaged in various research projects funded externally.
Mission
Biotechnology has the potential to play a large role in more rapidly advancing agricultural productivity in developing countries and that too protecting the environment for future generations. Agriculture biotechnology has been changing the face of agriculture since its commercial introduction in 1996 and the widespread adoption of biotechnological crop by farmers in several countries. The technology holds enormous promise for significantly increasing food production and relieving already various biotic and abiotic stress factors. The eco friendly benefits are realized globally not only by farmers but also by the consumers in general. Therefore, successful culture of this technology will provide significant opportunities for sustainable growth that meets the economic, environmental and social needs of our country. This may be mentioned here that there is a great shortage of technically sound trained manpower in biotechnology in India in general and agriculture sector in particular. It is also necessary to develop science and infrastructure that will help to determine the long-term contribution that biotechnology can make to sustainable growth and development in developing countries like India. With this backdrop the M.Sc. in Agricultural Biotechnology teaching programme has been started in 2013-14 academic session with a view to create trained manpower by developing capabilities of utilizing tools and techniques of biotechnology with the financial support of Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India.
Vision
- To impart contemporary quality education to make our Post Graduate Programme more attractive for the meritorious students across the nation.
- To arrange special training for the students to make them competent for national level examinations like NET, SRF, GATE etc.
- To develop functional linkages with Biotech industries and R&D institutes for making the programme meaningful.
Courses Offered
After re-orientation of ICAR syllabus for B Sc (Ag) Hons. Course & Curricula, this Department is offering the following undergraduate courses.
| Course | In Take Capacity |
|---|---|
| M. Sc (Ag.) in Agricultural Biotechnology | 5 |
| Ph. D in Agricultural Bitechnology | As per availability of the eligible teacher |
Infrastructure / Facilities
The department is fully equipped with one research laboratory on Molecular Biology and Genetic Engineering laboratory, One Plant tissue culture laboratory and one teaching laboratory for the undergraduate student. List of major equipment -
Classroom
| Sl.No. | Class room | Area (Square-metre) | Sitting capacity |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | One PG Class room cum Seminar room with computer and internet facilities | 48 | 15 students |
Laboratories
| Sl.No. | Name of Laboratory |
Area in Sq. m (Capacity) |
List of major equipments and facilities |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | General Laboratory |
48(15 students) |
Deep freezer, Hot air oven, Double distillation set (glass), Steel distillation set, Water bath |
| 2 | UG Laboratory |
60(30 students) |
Electronic balance, High speed centrifuge, Laminar Air Flow, UV transilluminator, Gel documentation system, Deep freezer, Hot air oven, pH meter, Microcentrifuge, PCR Machine, Electrophoresis System, Water bath, UV-Vis Spectrophotometer |
| 3 | Plant Tissue Culture Laboratory |
24(05 students) |
Orbital Shaker, Electronic balance, Laminar Air Flow, Deep freezer, BOD incubator. pH meter, Normal Shaker, Incubator shaker (4°C - 60°C), Plant Growth Chamber, Glass bead sterilizer |
| 4 | PG laboratory |
60(15 Students) |
Electronic balance, High speed centrifuge, Laminar Air Flow, Vertical gel electrophoresis, UV transilluminator, Gel documentation system, Deep freezer, BOD incubator, pH meter, Orbital shaking incubator, Deep freezer (-80), UV-Vis Spectrophotometer, PCR Machine, Electrophoresis System, Water bath |