The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) was established in 1962 on the pattern of Land Grant System of USA. There are four constituent colleges of PAU namely, College of Agriculture, College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology, College of Home Science and College of Basic Sciences & Humanities. The University has 30 departments and five schools. The Punjab Agricultural University has competent faculty to fulfil its mandate of research, education and extension work.
The University has attained a special status in the history of Indian agriculture for its pivotal role in ushering in the Green Revolution in India. This is a pioneer State Agricultural University (SAU) of India, well known for its research, education and extension in agriculture with a well-established academic and research infrastructure. There are six Regional Research Stations, three Fruit Research Station and four Seed Farms. Apart from the infrastructure at the main, the University has played a pivotal role in making the country self-sufficient in food grain production and has recommended more than 809 varieties/ hybrids of different crops out of which 173 have been released at the national level. The productivity of wheat increased from 1.2 t/ha in 1960-61 to 5.1/ha in 2016-17 and rice from 1.1t/ha to 4.1. The cropping intensity in the State increased from 126% during 1960-61 to nearly 205%.
The PAU is also well known for its high academic standards. The University is imparting education in 83 academic programmes of which 10 are Undergraduate, 44 are Masters and 29 are Doctorate programmes. In total, 3999 students have been on the rolls of PAU during the academic year 2016-17. Of these, 2217 students are in Undergraduate, 1350 in Masters and 378 in Doctorate programme while 54 students belong to Diploma Courses. At present 45% students are boys and 55% are girls. Institutes of Agriculture have been established at Gurdaspur and Bathinda where students are admitted for the initial 2 years of 6-years B.Sc. programme. Mostly rural students (about 90%) are admitted in these institutes. PAU is also a preferred destination of foreign students. Presently, 24 students from countries such as Nepal, Afganistan, Uganda, Iran, Bhutan and Maldives are studying in different (UG) and (PG) programmes.
There is a strong research-extension worker-farmer linkage between PAU and state development departments. PAU pioneered of the concept of Farmers Service Centre, which was adopted by the ICAR as Agriculture Technology Information Centre (ATIC). The Directorate of Extension Education maintains a close liaison with the farming community of the state directly/indirectly through various extension programmes, including trainings, exhibitions, demonstrations, adaptive trials, field days, Kisan Melas, farm publications, Plant Clinic, etc. The University organizes Kisan Melas twice a year, at the Main Campus and at six Regional Research Stations where technology displays, farmer-scientist interactive sessions, crop produce competitions, field demonstrations and agro-industrial exhibitions are arranged.
