Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU)

Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) was established as the only university of its kind in Bangladesh in 1961. The scheme for the establishment of BAU was finalized on 8 June 1961 and its ordinance was promulgated on 18 August 1961. With the appointment of its first Vice-Chancellor, the university formally came into existence on 2 September 1961 and started functioning with the College of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Science at Mymensingh as its nucleus. The University is 4 kilometer south of the Mymensingh town and occupied 1200 Acres areas by the side of Old Brahamputra River. The university has six faculties and 43 departments covering all aspects of agricultural education and research.

Location

The campus, with an area of about 1200 acres is located in scenic rural surroundings on the western bank of the old Brahmaputra River, 5 km south from Mymensingh Railway Station and 120 km north from Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. It also houses two national research institutes, namely, Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) and Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI).

Vision and Mission

Vision

Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) is the premier seat of higher agricultural education and research in the country. Its scholastic activities cover all the domains of agricultural sciences having direct bearing on terrestrial and aquatic productivity. The University was established as the nation’s only University of its kind in session 1961-62 on the basis of recommendations made by the Commission of National Education and the Food and Agriculture Commission in 1959. The Scheme for the establishment of BAU was finalized on 8 june 1961 and its ordinance was promulgated on 18 August 1961. With the appointment of its first Vice-Chancellor, the university formally came into existance on 2 September 1961 and started functioning with the College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry (CVSAH) at Mymensingh as its nucleus.

The main task of the university is to tone up the quality and standard of higher agricultural education and to produce first-rate agriculturists, agricultural scientists and researchers for shouldering the responsibilities of agricultural development of the country. It is a residential university mandated for offering for higher education and research in agriculture and all of its branches including conduct of examinations, conferment of degrees and granting affiliation.

To achieve the objectives over 90 percent of the recurring budget and the entire development fund come from the government through University Grants Commission (UGC).

BAU has been the principal supplier of skilled human capital for modernizing our national agriculture since its establishment in 1961. And yet it has a long way to go ahead. It is our vision to make this University an integrated institution with functional relationships with relevant government organizations, non-government organizations, and private sector firms enabling BAU to contribute meaningfully to agricultural development of Bangladesh. We want to be guided by three watchwords relevance, quality and internationalization to respond to the call of a fast-changing world system.

Mission

The missions of Bangladesh Agricultural University have been to develop the art and science of agriculture for the well being of mankind, and to educate agriculturists of high standards of scientific, managerial and professional competence in harmony with the environment, and to share knowledge and skills with world partners.Academics

The working missions of the University are:

• to provide higher learning in all branches of agricultural sciences as a profession-based education;
• to conduct basic and applied research in various aspects of agricultural problems faced by farmers, change-agents and agro-industrialists with a view to recommending possible measures for solving them;
• to organize and supervise extension and related nation-building activities at different levels and in different forms;
• to provide training for personnel of different government and non-government organizations and also for farmers and farm-leaders on various aspects of agriculture and rural development; and
• to provide facilities for bilateral and multilateral cooperation and collaboration with institutes or organizations within and outside Bangladesh

Faculty and departments

Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology

·         Department of Farm Structure and Environmental Engineering

·         Department of Farm Power and Machinery

·         Department of Irrigation and Water Management

·         Department of Food Technology and Rural Industries

·         Department of Computer Science and Mathematics 

     Faculty of Veterinary Science

·         Department of Anatomy and Histology

·         Department of Physiology

·         Department of Pharmacology

·         Department of Parasitology

·         Department of Pathology

·         Department of Medicine

·         Department of Surgery and Obstetrics

·         Department of Microbiology and Hygiene

Faculty of Agriculture

·         Department of Agronomy

·         Department of Soil Science

·         Department of Entomology

·         Department of Horticulture

·         Department of Plant Pathology

·         Department of Crop Botany

·         Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding

·         Department of Agricultural Extension Education

·         Department of Agricultural Chemistry

·         Department of Biochemistry

·         Department of Physics

·         Department of Chemistry

·         Department of Languages

·         Department of Agroforestry

·         Department of Biotechnology

·         Department of Environmental Science

Faculty of Animal Husbandry

·         Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics

·         Department of Animal Science

·         Department of Animal Nutrition

·         Department of Poultry Science

·         Department of Dairy Science

Faculty of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology

·         Department of Agricultural Economics

·         Department of Agricultural Finance

·         Department of Agricultural Statistics

·         Department of Agribusiness and Marketing

·         Department of Rural Sociology

Faculty of Fisheries

·         Department of Fisheries Biology and Genetics

·         Department of Aquaculture

·         Department of Fisheries Management

·         Department of Fisheries Technology

Institutes

Graduate Training Institute (GTI)

Library

BAU central library has a collection of over 1,84,942 volumes and 2,000 periodicals. The number of journals is 151. The library has copies of M.S and PhD theses. Besides the central library, the Faculty of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology has its own library which contains reference books and journals in the field of Agricultural Economics.

Admissions

Undergraduate program

Undergraduate admissions in BAU are competitive. After completion of HSC (Higher Secondary School Certificate) education, a student can submit his/her application for undergraduate admission if they fulfil the minimum requirements. A candidate is eligible to apply for admission into Level 1, Semester 1 of undergraduate studies as offered by six faculties of BAU for the year 2007 must have passed SSC (Science group) or equivalent examination in 2003 or 2004 and HSC (Science group) or equivalent examination in 2005 or 2006 with a total of 6.5 GPA excluding the 4th subject, and with at least 3 GPA in both SSC and HSC examinations excluding the fourth subject. Besides, he/she must have Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology and English as combination of subjects at HSC level and has to obtain minimum 2.0 grade point in each of the above subjects in the HSC final examination.

M.S/PhD program

M.S. and PhD programs are available as follows:

• Faculty of Veterinary Science: Anatomy & Histology, Microbiology & Hygiene, Parasitology, Medicine, Pathology, Physiology, Pharmacology, and Surgery & Obstetrics.
• Faculty of Agriculture: Agronomy, Soil Science, Crop Botany, Plant Pathology, Horticulture, Entomology, Agricultural Extension Education, Agricultural Chemistry, Biochemistry, Genetics & Plant Breeding, Physics, Chemistry, Languages, Agroforestry, Biotechnology and Environmental Science.
• Faculty of Animal Husbandry: Animal Breeding & Genetics, Animal Nutrition, Animal Science, Poultry Science, and Dairy Science.
• Faculty of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology: Agricultural Economics, Cooperation & Marketing, Agricultural Finance, Agricultural Statistics, and Rural Sociology.
• Faculty of Agricultural Engineering & Technology: Irrigation & Water Management, Farm Power & Machinery, Farm Structure, Food Technology & Rural Industries and Computer Science & Mathematics.
• Faculty of Fisheries: Fisheries Biology & Genetics, Aquaculture, Fisheries Management, and Fisheries Technology.

Admission of foreign students

In the case of foreign nationals, applicants must have completed twelve years of schooling and passed courses equivalent to HSC (science group) of Bangladesh with Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Biology and obtained equivalent GPA as set out in subtitle. An applicant has to produce certified academic transcript showing that he/she has studied and passed courses equivalent to HSC (science group) of Bangladesh having Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology and English in his/her curricula.

Training

• BAU runs a course on Information and Communication Technology at the postgraduate level. The Ministry of Science and Information & Communication Technology of Bangladesh sponsors the programme. A one-year course with a total 36 credits has to be completed to obtain a certificate of postgraduate diploma in Information and Communication Technology (PGD-in-ICT). Any graduate having no third class/division at any academic level can apply to this course.
• A course, "Foundation Training for University Teachers," is operated by BAU to train newly recruited teachers (lecturers and assistant professors) of public universities of the country. The course spans eight weeks of intensive training and is approved by the UGC (University Grants Commission). In its fifth batch, 19 teachers from Dhaka University, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Islamic University, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Sylhet Agricultural University, Noakhali Science & Technology University, and Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University have attended the program.
• GTI started "Foundation Training for University Officers." The first course spanned one month, starting in 2009. Twenty-six participants came from 10 public universities of Bangladesh. University Grants Commission of Bangladesh sponsors the course.
• Bangladesh Agricultural University Extension Centre (BAUEC) operates agricultural extension and village development activities in 22 villages of Mymensingh Sadar through 45 cooperatives. Vegetable cultivation schemes are running in 40 primary schools, high schools, madrasas and orphanages under Mymensingh Sadar, Trishal, Gouripur and Phulpur upazilla. Over 8,000 farmers have attended the programs of BAUEC.

Research

BAU conducts two main streams of research — the degree research and the project research — the former being supervised by the teachers for postgraduate students at both M.S. and PhD levels while the problem-solving research projects are conducted with sponsorship accorded either by the university or external funding agencies. The Committee for Advanced Studies and Research (C.A.S.R.) is responsible for coordinating both streams of research.

For coordination and management of research projects, BAU Research System (BAURES) was established in 1984. Since its establishment, BAURES has completed 322 research projects and has 112 ongoing projects. The ongoing research projects are funded by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Department for International Development (DfID) of UK, Norwegian Agency for International Development (NORAD), International Foundation for Science (IFS), etc.

Publications

The Journal of the Bangladesh Agricultural University (ISSN 1810-3030) is published in June and December on behalf of the Bangladesh Agricultural University Research System (BAURES). Original research papers, review articles and short communications are published.

Website Address: http://www.bau.edu.bd