Punjab Agricultural University (PAU)

Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) is the state farm-science university at Ludhiana. Its own pages date its founding to 1962 and call it the "Mother of the Green Revolution". Wikipedia says Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru formally inaugurated it on 8 July 1962 and that it is the third-oldest agricultural university in India.

Its heads in order

• Prem Nath Thapar, the first vice-chancellor, from 17 October 1962. PAU credits him with building the early team of scientists that contributed to Punjab's Green Revolution. He stepped down on 11 October 1968.
• Mohinder Singh Randhawa, from 23 October 1968 to 27 October 1976. A biography on the Academy of the Punjab in North America site says he conceived and created the university. He later gave his books to the PAU library, which carries his name.

The Green Revolution: PAU's extension department says it helped spread high-yielding Mexican wheat technology among Punjab farmers, "ultimately leading to green revolution" in the state. The Tribune reported in 2017 that 1967 is officially counted as the base year of the Green Revolution, the year the high-yielding wheat PV-18 was released to farmers, and that the rice revolution followed a few years later. In that report PAU's director of extension called its contribution "exemplary", and PAU planned to ask the Centre for a postal stamp for the fifty years.

Who gets the credit: the same report quotes former Union Minister M.S. Gill saying that the late Dr Dilbagh Singh Athwal deserved most of the credit, and that Gurdev Singh Khush, who worked internationally on improving rice varieties, should also be recognised. Gill argued that the Centre had denied Punjab credit for the Green Revolution.

Where it stands: PAU continues at Ludhiana. Wikipedia reports that the National Institutional Ranking Framework placed it third in agriculture and allied sectors in 2024.