The Agriculture and Forestry University is a public agricultural university with central offices in Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal. It was created by the Parliament of Nepal through a bill passed in June 2010 merging two constituent campuses of Tribhuvan University: the Rampur Agriculture Campus of the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science and the Forestry Campus, Hetauda of the Institute of Forestry in Hetauda, Makwanpur. The university offers agricultural workforce development and promotes research in agriculture, forestry, and allied disciplines through teaching, research, and extension programs across the country.
Academics
The university offers undergraduate, graduate and PhD programs in agricultural sciences from Faculty of Agriculture and Faculty of Animal Sciences, Veterinary and Fisheries, Rampur and undergraduate program in forestry from Faculty of Forestry, Hetauda. The Faculties of Agriculture and Animal Sciences, Veterinary, and Fisheries offer undergraduate degrees including a four-year BSc Ag, five-year B.V.Sc. and A.H, four-year BSc Fisheries, two-year master programs in Agriculture, Animal Science, Veterinary Science and Aquaculture, and PhD programs. In addition to its Bachelor of Forestry degree program, the Faculty of Forestry offers a Master of Forestry degree and PhD The university has 140 faculty members located in Rampur premises and 55 at the Faculty of Forestry, Hetauda. The university strength consists of around 1500 undergraduate students, 200 postgraduate students and around 50 PhD scholars in disciplines of agriculture and forestry. The Rampur academic complex extends in an area of and the Hetauda Campus has an area of. The faculty members focus their research work on productivity of agricultural commodities, post-harvest technology, improving the shelf-life of food products, conserving biodiversity, and enhancing livelihood systems and innovation capacities of farming communities. The postgraduate students are contributing thesis research to generate knowledge and technologies to address the issues of agriculture and forestry in the nation.
History
Agriculture and Forestry University was established as a result of a bill enacted by the Nepalese Parliament in June 2010 authorizing the creation of three new universities at campuses owned by Tribhuvan University. The Rampur Agriculture Campus, associated with the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science, and the Forestry Campus, Hetauda, associated with the Institute of Forestry, were designated as campuses for the new university. As of February 2015, Tribhuvan University has refused to transfer ownership of the campuses to the new university, citing its autonomy from the Nepalese legislature, and the existing Rampur Agriculture Campus has yet to vacate its administrative offices. Recently, in 2015, the first AFU affiliated college was established in Puranchaur V.D.C. of Kaski district with the name College of Natural Resource Management. This college is currently operating with bachelor's degree in Agriculture. Total 50 students were enrolled as the first batch of the college.
Campuses
Faculty of Agriculture, Rampur, Chitwan
Faculty of Animal sciences, veterinary and Fisheries, Rampur, Chitwan
