Bhubaneswar, September 9: A special graduation ceremony for students of the Institute of Agricultural Sciences (IAS), Faculty of Agricultural Sciences of SOA Deemed to be University, was conducted for students who had completed their studies on Wednesday.

The students belonged to the B.Sc. Agriculture (Hons) batch of 2022-26 and M.Sc. (Agriculture), M.Sc (Horticulture), and 12 other departments of the 2024-26 batch.

SOA Vice-Chancellor Prof. Pradipta Kumar Nanda, who was the chief guest at the program, administered the oath to the students receiving their degrees. Addressing the graduating students, he said that the event meant the culmination of their hard work, diligence, patience, discipline, and commitment.

Prof. Nanda said that the students had studied in a university which had been ranked 15th in the country and would now go out and be the brand ambassadors for their alma mater.

Prof. Santosh Kumar Rout, Dean of IAS, who also spoke on the occasion, said agriculture had no longer remained a traditional subject but had expanded into areas which dealt with food security, climate change, rural development and technological innovation.

The event was also graced by Prof. Prasanta Kumar Patra, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Prof. Anup Kumar Samantaray, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Prof. Manjula Das, Controller of Examination, Prof. Jyoti Ranjan Das, Dean (Students’ Welfare), Members of the Academic Council, Departmental heads and faculties. Prof. Saroj Kumar Mohanty presented the welcome address.