Shimla, May 30 (IANS): Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has urged the Central government to convert Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishwavidalaya at Palampur in Kangra district into Central Agriculture University to benefit the biodiversity rich northwestern Himalayan region.

In a missive written to Union Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomar, the Chief Minister said a Central Agriculture University was established at Imphal in Manipur in 1993 with constituent colleges in six states of the northeastern Himalayan region.

He said in 2014 the Union government planned to open one more Central Agriculture University at Pusa in Bihar.

The Chief Minister said the northwestern Himalayan region with a population of 3.1 crore and area of 3,31,953 square km comprises the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

He said the region being rich in biodiversity and natural resources is ideally suited for the cultivation of crops.

Thakur said Himachal Pradesh being a key state in this region and major river basins like Satluj, Ravi, Beas, Chenab and Yamuna fall in its territory.

The state offers a huge potential in agriculture and allied sectors, the existence of an institute of higher learning and research in the form of Central Agriculture University would go a long way to bring much needed prosperity to the people of the entire northwestern Himalayan region, he wrote.

Moreover, Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishwavidalaya is centrally located and has adequate infrastructure and sprawling campus of 615 hectares with constituent colleges of agriculture, veterinary and animal sciences, community science and basic sciences, including a network of 12 regional research stations in different agro-climatic zones.