Solan, Dec 1 : Himachal Pradesh Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla on Sunday conferred 12 gold medals and awarded 119 Ph.D. degrees in horticulture and forestry at the 13th convocation of Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry at Nauni in Solan district.

The Governor also awarded degrees to M.Sc and B.Sc students. A total of 816 degrees were awarded in the convocation.

Addressing the students, the Governor lauded their hard work and dedication and said the ceremony "plays a significant role in the lives of the children and was one of the milestones achieved due to hard work and dedication".

He expressed pride that the majority of gold medal recipients were women students, which shows their increasing prominence in higher education and research.

He said this was a promising sign for the progress of the nation, particularly in sectors like agriculture, horticulture and forestry, where women's contributions were invaluable.

The Governor also congratulated the university on its foundation day and paid tribute to the founder and state's first Chief Minister Yashwant Singh Parmar for his contributions for the development of the state.

He said the present government was also playing a vital role in supporting universities and improve the standard of education in the state.

He urged students to contribute to the nation's growth by sharing research-based techniques with farming communities.

He called on the students to actively address challenges faced by farmers and fruit growers by promoting solutions for sustainable practices and also asked them to suggest farming methods to increasing the earnings of the farmers.

He also stressed the importance of a drug-free Himachal Pradesh and urged the students to assist in dismantling drug networks.

Highlighting the state's apple economy, the Governor said apples account for eight per cent of the state's total fruit production, valued at over Rs 5,000 crore.

He commended the efforts of the university to promote natural farming and for introducing undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in the field. He encouraged students to utilise start-up initiatives by the central and state governments to benefit society.

Horticulture Minister Jagat Singh Negi said Himachal is an agriculture-horticulture dominated state, which has succeeded in increasing the means of livelihood and income of farmers and orchardists by adopting high technology.

The Minister added the government was committed to the welfare of farmers and orchardists.

"As per the demand of orchardists, the state government took the initiative to use universal cartons for packing apples, due to which orchardists of the state have got good prices in apple marketing."

The minister said Himachal would be the first state to implement the horticulture policy, which would provide direct and indirect employment opportunities to 82,500 people.

Vice-Chancellor Rajeshwar Chandel detailed the achievements and other activities of the university.

He thanked the government for providing financial assistance for research in natural farming and development.

/IANS