Nauni Varsity to Establish Plant Health Diagnostic Clinic at Neri

October 29, 2026

VC lays foundation stone for facility aimed at strengthening plant health management and promoting rural entrepreneurship

Nauni/Hamirpur: In a significant step towards strengthening plant health management and supporting the horticultural sector in Himachal Pradesh, the foundation stone for a state-of-the-art Plant Health Diagnostic Clinic for Entrepreneurship Development was laid at the College of Horticulture and Forestry (COH&F), Neri, Hamirpur, a constituent college of Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry (UHF), Nauni. Vice Chancellor Prof. HS Baweja laid the foundation stone during a virtual ceremony held today.

The proposed clinic will provide diagnostic, disease surveillance and advisory services for horticultural crops, benefiting farmers, researchers, extension personnel and horticulture officers. It aims to facilitate early detection of plant diseases and promote precise, need-based plant protection measures to improve crop health and productivity.

Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Baweja said that timely identification of disease-causing pathogens would help farmers adopt targeted management practices, minimise crop losses and avoid unnecessary or repeated pesticide applications. This would reduce cultivation costs, pesticide residues and environmental contamination while helping prevent the development of pesticide resistance. Early detection of pathogens in planting material and perennial plant tissues would also help prevent the introduction of diseases into new orchards.

Highlighting the challenges posed by climate change, he noted that variations in temperature, humidity and rainfall were influencing pathogen survival, disease development and geographical distribution, increasing the risk of emerging diseases and their spread to new horticultural areas.

Earlier, Dr. S.K. Bhardwaj, Dean, COH&F, Neri, welcomed the Vice Chancellor and highlighted the significance of the proposed facility. He informed that the clinic will integrate conventional and advanced diagnostic techniques with systematic field surveillance and weather-based disease risk assessment to facilitate the early and accurate identification of plant pathogens. By connecting laboratory diagnosis with field surveillance, scientific research and farmer-oriented advisory services, the facility will support integrated and sustainable disease management. It is expected to contribute to climate-resilient horticulture, improved crop health, higher productivity, better-quality produce and sustainable livelihoods for farmers.

The facility will also open avenues for rural entrepreneurship, skill development and employment generation among rural youth and university graduates. Practical training in AI-enabled disease diagnosis, digital plant health monitoring, crop protection consultancy and precision horticulture will equip students with skills to establish plant health diagnostic centres, mobile diagnostic services, agri-tech start-ups and plant protection advisory enterprises.

Horticulture graduates and rural youth will have opportunities to develop fee-based diagnostic services and offer customised disease management solutions in collaboration with the University, farmer producer organisations and other agricultural institutions. These initiatives are expected to encourage self-employment, strengthen rural service delivery and generate new income opportunities within the horticultural value chain.