Agriculture is the art, science and business of production, processing and marketing of food, feed, fiber, and fuel generated from natural and commercial fields and farms.
It is the main stay for about 70% of total population in any agricultural country like Pakistan as a source of occupation and subsistence. Therefore, the Department of Agriculture & Food Technology at KIU has been established as one of the pioneer departments to fulfill the needs of the mass.
After achieving remarkable success in the discipline of Food Science & Technology, it has been upgraded to focus on teaching sciences and technology to uplift the agriculture sector especially in temperate and highland world. In addition to Food Science and Human Nutrition & Dietetics, agricultural sciences including horticulture, plant protection and water management are also included.
Being the professional degree awarding Department of the University, it is producing human resource of high caliber and talent equipped with multidisciplinary knowledge and multitask handling skills. In addition to six national and foreign qualified PhD faculty members, the Department owns highly sophisticated and well equipped class rooms, laboratories and field research facilities. Upon graduating in any agriculture discipline, there are numerous job opportunities in both public and private sectors including academia, industry, NGOs, Multinational Companies, Health, and Education etc. To cater the current needs of human resource for processing and preservation of horticultural produce and its production, protection and water management in the fields, the department currently offering admissions for post graduate, graduate and bachelor degree programs i.e. Ph.D. Food Science and Technology, MS Food Science and Technology, BS Agriculture (Food Science and Technology), BS Agriculture (Plant Protection), BS Agriculture (Horticulture), BS Agriculture (Water Management), and BS Human Nutrition and Dietetics.
In compliance with current needs of agricultural sciences at national and international level, the department has been facilitated enough for its high quality teaching resources as well as in and outdoor research facilities. The department has numerous and spacious class rooms with high quality audio video communication facilities i.e. multimedia. It has separate well equipped analytical and processing laboratories and outreach research station i.e. greenhouses, facilitating practical experimentation for dissertation research of PhD, MS and BS programs and also supporting the efficient execution of funded research project activities. Major equipment currently available in the laboratories include High Performance Liquid Chromatograph (HPLC), Gas Chromatograph (GC), Atomic Absorption Spectrometer, Spectrophotometer, Dissolved Oxygen Meter, Soxtec Apparatus, Kjdhal Apparatus, Pulping, Machine, and Electrical Peeler.
The department has 300 plus research publications in national and internationals journals. Four research and development projects funded by different donor agencies are being executed and also have conducted several workshops/ trainings to the farming community in different areas of GB. Furthermore, the department owns two patents and two books published.
