Governor, Lt. Gen (Retd) S. K. Sinha has appreciated the headway made by Sher-i-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology (SKUAST), Jammu in academic and research fields during the past few years even as Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad urged agricultural scientists in Jammu & Kashmir to prepare for the impending challenge of food shortage likely to confront the world. Addressing the 2nd meeting of the University Council of SKUAST (J) here today, the Governor said that the university, though new, had made remarkable strides both in construction and academic and research activities. He said the speed with which the institution was moving forward would soon see it as one of the top agricultural universities in the country. He complimented the Chief Minister for his contribution to the development of the university and said that it was due to his efforts that the President of India had agreed to address the 2nd convocation of the university shortly. In his address, the Chief Minister called upon agri-scientists to develop research and strategy to meet the impending challenge of food shortage that was likely to be a world wide phenomenon. He said food scarcity was predicted as fallout of the global changes in temperature and asked the scientists at the twin agricultural universities of the State to rise to the occasion. He said double cropping in Kashmir and climatically similarly placed areas of Jammu division and triple cropping in Jammu's tropical zone had to be made a reality to cope with the likely situation. The Chief Minister referred to the recent drought in the undivided district of Doda and adjoining areas of Udhampur and Kathua districts and said that about 90% crops were damaged there. He said he had a meeting with the union food minister and was informed by him that food shortage had assumed global proportion and all countries were faced with a real challenge on the food front. He said the State would have to stand on its own legs in so far as foodgrain production was concerned. He called for improvement in wheat, rice and maize seeds to ensure better yield. He also stressed on crop rotation by farmers instead of sticking to one crop pattern. He said with the government making available to farmers over 21 lakh kanals of State land free of cost under the Roshni Scheme it was expected of them to work harder and increase production. The Chief Minister highlighted the need for extending the information communication technology project of the university, for reaching to the farmers of the remote areas, at the block level and using it also for transfer of information with regard to other areas like disaster management and rural development. Earlier, the Vice Chancellor, SKUAST (J), Dr. Nagendra Sharma gave an insight into the academic, research and construction activities in the university. He said the university had developed and released seven new varieties of different crops while 57 research projects funded by outside agencies had become operational. He said new postgraduate and Ph. D programme in agriculture and veterinary facilities had also been initiated. Minister for Agriculture, Abdul Aziz Zargar, Vice- Chancellor, SKUAST (Kashmir), Prof. Anwar Alam, Principal Secretary to Governor, Dr. Arun Kumar and Commissioner/Secretary, Finance, B. B. Vyas were also present