At the heart of the culturally rich and prosperous Pune of the Peshwas is where the century-old College of Agriculture, the constituent College of the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri is located. Pune with a population of 2.5 million is the second-largest city in Maharashtra State. Since time immemorial, Pune has been a renowned educational and celebrated cultural centre. The Maratha Kingdom was founded by the great king Chattrapati Shivaji Maharaj around Pune in 1676 A.D. The weather of Pune is very pleasant with maximum temperature ranging from 200C to 320C. The College of Agriculture is very close to the Bus and Railway stations and about 10 kms from the Lohgaon airport. The city is well connected to other metropolis of the country by road, rail and air.
<p>The Department of Agriculture was established at the center in 1877 followed by setting of similar departments by the provinces. It was soon realized that research and education are the very foundations for the development of agriculture. Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, the noted thinker, social reformer and agriculturist of Pune appealed, persuaded and convinced the British Government to set up institutions for agricultural education and research in India. This led to the opening of a branch for teaching agriculture in the College of Science at Pune in 1879 that was subsequently developed into a separate College of Agriculture in 1908. The main building with its grand dome, beautiful entrance hall, library, herbarium, and laboratories for teaching and research in Agriculture, Botany, Mycology, and Economics was ready in 1911 and was inaugurated by Lord Sydenham, the Governor of Bombay.
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The College of Agriculture, Pune is one of the first five agricultural colleges established in India. In 1969, the College was transferred to the Mahatma Phule Krishi Vidyapeeth, Rahuri established in that year. The B.Sc.(Hort.) and PG programme was started in the year 1984 and 1985 respectively. The MBM (Agri.) programme was started in the year 2008. The University headquarter is located in Rahuri, Dist. Ahmednagar 160 km to the north of Pune
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