An agriculture degree can feel a long way from an actual job. A new tie-up at SKUAST-Jammu is aimed at closing exactly that gap. The Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu has signed a five-year MoU with VKC Nuts Pvt Ltd, one of the country's larger dry-fruit and nut processors, to build a working bridge between the classroom and the agri-food industry.
For students, the interesting part isn't the signing ceremony — it's what the agreement actually puts on the table.
What students get out of it
The MoU is unusually concrete about pathways into industry. It covers, among other things:
Student internships and hands-on industrial training — real exposure to how an agri-food company operates;
Industry-sponsored master's and doctoral research, so postgraduate work can be tied to live commercial problems;
Collaborative research, product testing and technology transfer in the agriculture and food sectors;
Workshops and knowledge-sharing sessions with industry professionals.
In effect, it gives agriculture and food-science students something a syllabus alone can't: a foot inside a real company, mentorship from people doing the work, and a line on a CV that says you've done more than attend lectures. In a field where employability often hinges on practical experience, that matters.
A professor from the factory floor
One detail signals how serious the partnership is meant to be. VKC Nuts director Gagan Jain — who signed the agreement alongside SKUAST-Jammu's Director Research Dr S.K. Gupta, under the oversight of Vice-Chancellor Prof. B.N. Tripathi — has also been designated a Professor of Practice at the university. That role is designed to bring industry experience directly into teaching and student mentoring, rather than leaving it outside the campus gates.
The agreement runs for an initial five years, with the option to renew. It lands in a region where agriculture and horticulture — apples, walnuts, almonds, saffron and more — are central to the economy, and where food processing and value addition are among the more promising sources of new jobs. A stronger link between the agricultural university and the companies that process and sell those products is a sensible bet for both. And for a student weighing whether an agri-food degree leads anywhere, an internship pipeline and industry mentorship are a far more useful answer than a placement brochure. Watch the university's notices for how internship slots and project openings under the MoU are advertised — that is where a paper agreement turns into something you can actually apply for.
Source: Daily Excelsior — "SKUAST-Jammu inks MoU with VKC Nuts Pvt Ltd" (10 July 2026).
