Faculty of Agriculture – History
The foundation stone of the Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute was laid in 1906 and Sir Louis Dane, the then Lieut, and Governor of the Punjab formally opened college in 1909. Since its inception, the college has passed through many vicissitudes. It started with a three-year course of Licentiate of Agriculture covering lectures and practical classes in Agriculture, Chemistry and Agricultural Chemistry, Physics, Botany and Agricultural Botany, Zoology and Entomology, Mathematics, Land Surveying and Veterinary. A few years experience proved this system unsatisfactory. The number of students seeking admission to the College began to decline and a crisis was reached in 1913 when no new class could be formed. Under the circumstances, in pursuance of the recommendations of the Board of Agriculture at its meeting held in Coimbatore (India) in 1913, a modified four years course of Licentiate in Agriculture (L. Ag) was adopted. This course comprised of two-parts. First part consisted of simple practical instructions in Agriculture and elementary courses in scientific subjects while the second part was related to systematic courses in sciences allied to agriculture. At the end of the first part examination, successful candidates used to get a leaving certificate, and were eligible for lower rank jobs in the Agricultural Department, and for such posts as Estate Managers. The candidates completing both parts of this course were awarded with the Diploma of Licentiate in Agriculture. This course started in 1914, continued up to 1920 and met with some measure of success.
In 1917, as a result of a resolution passed in a conference held at Pusa (India), the College was affiliated to the Punjab University for four year degree of B.Sc.(Agri.) and the first batch was honored with B.Sc. (Agri) degree in 1921. However, a provision, for a leaving certificate at the end of first two years, as practiced previously, was maintained for those not wishing to take a degree. The student’s interest in leaving certificate class, however, declined with time and it was decided to close this program in 1941. The college got affiliation to the Punjab University for M.Sc. (Agri.) degree in 1923 and first M.Sc. degree was awarded in 1928. Originally the M.Sc. (Agri.) was purely a research degree but realizing the importance of theoretical understanding of the subject, it was decided to include course work also in the degree program. The college also got affiliation to the Punjab University for the degree of Ph.D and first doctorate degree was awarded in 1944. Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute remained the premier seat of learning and training in tropical agriculture for a major part of the century and made great efforts to promote agrarian development in the country. After independence in 1947, the Government of Pakistan appointed National Commissions of Food and Education with the terms of reference to review, in all its ramifications, the prevailing agrarian system and to formulate measures for developing the full potential of our agricultural resources. The commissions made a strong plea for establishing an Agricultural University, which could play a more vigorous role in promoting research and education in Agriculture. Pursuant to these recommendations, the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad was established by upgrading the former Punjab Agricultural College and Research Institute in the year 1961-1962 and the Faculty of Agriculture originated directly from old Punjab Agriculture College in 1961.