Yearender 2025: Ludhiana’s PAU reaffirms its status in rankings, farmer-focused extension, and global engagement

With sustained support from the Punjab Government, including a Rs 20-crore capital grant, PAU expanded key infrastructure. Finance Minister Sardar Harpal Singh Cheema inaugurated the Agro-Processing Complex and Jaggery Processing Plant and laid the foundation stone of the Plant Acclimatisation Facility. Hostels and a swimming pool were upgraded, and a gymnasium was established.

A field of wheat variety developed by PAU. (Express Photo)

In research and innovation, PAU delivered field-ready technologies and patents, including a portable maize dryer to reduce post-harvest losses, a magnetic field-assisted freezing process for horticultural produce, and a stable zinc phosphide bait for safer rodent control. Advances in precision and digital agriculture included GNSS (global navigation satellite system)-based tractor auto-steering, sensor-based paddy transplanters and internet of things-enabled irrigation systems.

In 2025, PAU released 20 new crop varieties and hybrids across cereals, pulses, oilseeds, vegetables, fruits and ornamentals. Several PAU wheat and maize varieties topped the national trials of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), while the university earned multiple Best Centre awards under All India Coordinated Research Projects.

Farmers procuring the seed from the PAU project. (Express Photo)

PAU also strengthened its global footprint, appointing 22 honorary visiting professors, including World Food Prize laureates, and hosting delegations from Japan, the US, Argentina, South Sudan, and the Food and Agriculture Organisation. New collaborations, including a memorandum of understanding with BITS Pilani, expanded work in precision agriculture and agri-tech.

Through Kisan Melas, Krishi Vigyan Kendra programmes, crop residue management drives and flood-relief seed distribution, PAU ensured large-scale technology adoption. Its innovations, including a remotely operated paddy transplanter, gained national attention.

Academic excellence was highlighted at PAU’s annual convocation, held in the presence of Punjab Governor and Chancellor Shri Gulab Chand Kataria, under the chairmanship of Vice-Chancellor Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, along with college-level convocations where hundreds of students received degrees, medals, and merit certificates.

Overall, 2025 marked PAU’s integrated leadership in research, education and farmer-first extension, advancing sustainable and climate-resilient agriculture for Punjab and the country, said V-C Gosal.