President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday exhorted the farm scientists to use their education to create self-employment ventures.

The president was speaking at a convocation ceremony in Dr Y S Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni in Himachal Pradesh.

Kovind accompanied by his wife arrived in Shimla yesterday on a six-day visit to the state.

Addressing the gathering at the ceremony today, he said, Several enthusiastic youths have opted for their own ventures in agri sector after attaining education and started organic farming of fruits, vegetables and flowers and have become exporters of these produce . 

He presented gold medals and conferred degrees on 462 students and said, "it is encouraging that the girls have surpassed boys and out of nine medal winners, six are girls and one of them got two medals. 

Girls are proving their supremacy in education, sports, research, defence sciences, aviation and other areas which is a good sign for the country," he said.

He said there were ample opportunities in fruit and vegetable processing and the farmers can be saved from losses by setting up cold storages.

He appreciated the state for making a niche in agri-products' market, saying Himachal has done well in this area as Kinnauri apples, Sirmaur flowers , Solan mushrooms are famous worldwide.

Himachal Governor Acharya Devvrat, who was also present in the ceremony, urged the students to always acknowledge the contribution of teachers in shaping their lives.

He said since this university was the first Horticulture University in the country and the only horticulture university in the state, horticulturists had great expectations from it.

Devvrat said that in order to promote zero budget natural farming in the state, the university was implementing Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF) model in its campus. 

The zero budget natural farming would not only help in environment conservation, minimal wastage of water and increase the soil fertility, but will also produce healthy food.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur lauded the contribution of the university in producing best scientists and professionals and said that horticulture was playing a major role in strengthening the economy of the farmers of the state.