Nauni/Solan: To inculcate the spirit of entrepreneurship among students and motivate them to become entrepreneurs, Dr YS Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni launched five vocational and three certificate courses.

Vice-Chancellor Dr. Parvinder Kaushal started the courses at an event here on Tuesday under the ICAR National Agricultural Higher Education Project’s Institutional Development Plan being implemented at the university.

Vocational Courses on Medicinal Plants, Nursery Production of Temperate Fruits, Apiculture, Mushroom Cultivation and Flowers and value-addition were launched. Certificate courses on Proficiency in English, Presentation skills and Savoir-Faire: Speak and Act Appropriately in Social Situation were also launched.

“These courses were developed after multiple brainstorming sessions with experts for realizing the scope of horticulture as well as forestry and recognizing the potential enterprises for the students in these disciplines,” said Dr Kaushal.

Dr. Kaushal said the course is aimed at enhancing the knowledge and skills of trainees on production, processing, marketing and enrichment of multiple products.

Dr. KK Raina, Principal Investigator of IDP informed that the courses will be offered to BSc third and fourth-year students. He said that the students have the option to give their preference of the vocational course they would like to pursue while the final list is chosen on merit. The vocational course will spread over three months and will be in addition to the courses already being studied by the students. The certificate courses will be of shorter duration and will be completed in a month.