Rs 10 crore grant demanded to upgrade Brahmavar college, ETEducation
Mangaluru: MLC Manjunath Bhandary has demanded the allocation of Rs 10 crore during the 2025-26 financial year to upgrade and develop the main campus and constituent colleges under Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences (KSNUAHS), Shivamogga.
In a letter to the undersecretary of the department of agriculture, the MLC stated that the Brahmavar Zonal Research Centre was established in 1982. The existing Diploma (Agriculture) College there needs to be upgraded to an undergraduate degree-level agricultural college. In 2010, the then chief minister directed the govt to allocate Rs 5 crore for the development of the Brahmavar Regional Research Centre. Accordingly, the then principal secretary of the agriculture department issued instructions to initiate steps for establishing an Agricultural College at Brahmavar.
During 2014-15, a Diploma Agriculture College was established. In the 2010-11 state budget, approval was given to start an agricultural college from the 2012-13 academic year. On Feb 6, 2020, the then agriculture minister and deputy chief minister directed the govt to commence the BSc (Agriculture) course at Brahmavar from the 2020-21 academic year. Further, during the 33rd coordination committee meeting held on March 5, 2024, a decision was made to upgrade the Diploma Agriculture College to a higher level.
Despite repeated representations by legislators and ministers from the coastal region, the absence of any postgraduate or degree-level agricultural college in the coastal belt continues. Agriculture is the backbone of the country, and with a view to strengthening the agricultural sector and improving the livelihood of farmers, it has become imperative to upgrade the Diploma (Agriculture) College at Brahmavar into a degree college, thereby fulfilling a long-standing demand of the people and farming community of the region, the MLC said.
The Keladi Shivappa Nayaka University of Agricultural and Horticultural Sciences, Shivamogga, came into independent existence on April 1, 2013, covering seven districts comprising the coastal, Malnad, semi-Malnad, and plains regions of Karnataka. It is the only integrated university in the state, offering education, research, and extension activities in agriculture, horticulture, and forestry. However, citing the existence of a sufficient number of agricultural colleges in the state and the lack of justification for opening or upgrading additional institutions, the finance department has rejected the proposal. This, it is feared, will result in the underutilisation of skilled human resources and physical infrastructure created at a cost of several hundred crores by the govt.Under the jurisdiction of KSNUAHS, institutions such as the Brahmavar Diploma (Agriculture) College, Agricultural College Navile (Shivamogga), Horticulture College Hiriyur, and Horticulture College Mudigere are witnessing high student enrolment. There is an urgent need to provide additional hostel accommodation and strengthen basic infrastructure, in addition to having residential quarters for staff, and implementing other development, maintenance, and extension works.
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