Sylhet Bureau :
The 15th founding anniversary of Sylhet Agricultural University was observed on Tuesday (November 2) by showing puppet dances and stick games as part of the rural heritage and folk culture of Bengali tradition. Folk culture has a significant impact on the lifestyle of Bangladeshi people. However, many of the tradition’s bearers are now almost extinct. Many traditions have been lost with the passage of time. These are exceptional puppet dance and folk stick game. One of the hallmarks of Bengali culture is staged at the Sylhet Agricultural University. At 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the Vice Chancellor of Sylhet Agricultural University, Prof. Dr. Md. Matiar Rahman Howlader, inaugurated the programme on the occasion of the Sylhet Agricultural University’s 15th founding anniversary by releasing balloons and pigeons. A colorful procession was taken out from the premises of the administrative building at 11 am. The procession came to an end by circling the Tilagarh Square in Sylhet city.
Following the cutting of the university’s founding anniversary cake at the TSC, the traditional stick game began at Baishakhi Chattar. University teachers, students, officials, employees and visitors from different parts of Sylhet enjoyed this invaluable specimen of the lost folk culture. After the stick game, the traditional puppet dance of Bengal was performed. Sometimes the dialogue, sometimes the music and sometimes the puppet dance to the beat of the musical instrument fascinated the audience.
Sylhet Agricultural University was established on November 2, 2006 by transforming the then Sylhet Veterinary College into a university. At present, agricultural education and research work is going on in the green campus under 6 faculties and 48 departments. Improving the quality of life of marginal farmers through early paddy cultivation in haor region of Sylhet and Sunamganj, innovation of year-round productive bean varieties, provision of agro-climatic information, summer bean and tomato variety innovation, tea grade determination technology innovation, automatic irrigation system , discovery of vaccines against fish plague, establishment of sanctuaries for conservation of native species in Ratargul swamp forest and haor areas, improvement of living standards of fishermen, discovery of protein supplement called ‘Soyagroth Booster’ for aquaculture, determination of sea fog through satellite technology are some among the output gained by the researchers of this university.
They have also successes in other fields of agricultural research. Even during the global epidemic, more than 100 research papers by university researchers have been published in various Scopus indexed international journals.
Sylhet Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Md. Matiar Rahman Howlader said, the university has a 20-year plan. He said that with everyone’s cooperation, this institution can become a center of excellence. As a result, research and online education activities continue at the institution even during the Corona era. Everyone is collaborating to drive the institution forward. He expressed his optimism that Sylhet Agricultural University will play a vital role in establishing a hunger-free Bangladesh.
