Bangladesh Agricultural University

Bangladesh Agricultural University (বাংলাদেশ কৃষি বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়), abbreviated as BAU, was established in 1961. It is the first agricultural university and also the second largest public university of Bangladesh. This university is located in Mymensingh. The university has 44 departments.

BAU was the second highest budgeted public university in Bangladesh for the year 2013–2014. It is ranked number one university of Bangladesh according to the webometrics university ranking 2017. BAU has been ranked 2nd in the Bangladesh in the Times higher education world university ranking 2022. In May 2024 BAU ranked 3rd in the country in the Times Higher Education Ranking. It is one of the top ranked agricultural university in Asia.

History
The educational program of the university started in 1961 with two faculties namely Veterinary and Agricultural Faculty, then it was called East Pakistan Agricultural University. During the war of independence, the name of the university was announced as Swadhin Bangladesh Agricultural University. Within a few months of its establishment, a third faculty called the Faculty of Animal Husbandry started its journey. The Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology was added in the academic year 1963–64, the Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology in the academic year 1964-65 and the Faculty of Fisheries in the academic year 1967–68.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on February 13, 1973, in a reception organized by the Bangladesh Agricultural University Central Students' Union (BAKSU) at the university convocation stage, announced the first class rank in the field of employment for agriculturists like doctors and engineers.

Campus
Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) is the second largest public university in Bangladesh. Its expansive campus, covering an area of 5.10 square kilometers (1.97 sq mi), is situated in rural-urban mixed surroundings, approximately 3 kilometers (1.9 mi) south of the metropolitan city Mymensingh.

The campus comprises academic, administrative, and residential buildings, farms, gardens, and related facilities.

Two national research institutes, Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) and Bangladesh Fisheries Research Institute (BFRI) are housed in this campus.

Infrastructure

 * Two administrative buildings
 * Six faculty complexes
 * Fifteen halls for students
 * three-storied central library
 * modern auditorium (Shilpacharya Zainul Abedin Auditorium, 2,000 seats)
 * conference hall
 * central laboratory
 * Research field for every faculty
 * gymnasium
 * stadium
 * sports complex
 * healthcare centre (free care service for students, university staff and their families)
 * project complex
 * 657 units of residential facilities for teachers, officers and employees
 * TSC
 * Botanical garden
 * Fish museum & Biodiversity centre
 * Agriculture museum
 * GTI complex
 * Computer lab & wifi zone
 * Horticulture farm
 * Agriculture university school & college
 * Farmer auditorium
 * Community centre
 * Guest house
 * Central mosque
 * Bank & ATM booth
 * KR market

Boys' halls

 * Isha Khan Hall (First Hall of BAU)
 * Shahjalal Hall
 * Shaheed Shamsul Haque Hall
 * Shaheed Nazmul Ahsan Hall
 * Ashraful Haque Hall
 * Shaheed Jamal Hossain Hall
 * Hossain Shaheed Shuhrawardy Hall
 * Fazlul Haque Hall
 * Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Hall

Girls' halls

 * Sultana Razia Hall
 * Taposhi Rabeya Hall
 * Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib hall
 * Begum Rokeya Hall
 * Roji Jamal Hall
 * Sheikh Hasina Hall

Administration
Partial list of the vice-chancellors of the university:

List of Vice-Chancellors

 * 1) M Osman Ghani (2 September 1961 – 1963)
 * 2) S.D. Chaudhuri (1963–1973)
 * 3) Quazi Mohammad Fazlur Rahim (January 1971 – July 1971 and January 1972 – November 1973)
 * 4) Mosleh Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury (24 November 1973 – October 1980)
 * 5) AKM Aminul Haque (1980–1988)
 * 6) Kamaluddin Ahmad
 * 7) Mohammad Hossain (14 November 1996 – 5 February 2000)
 * 8) M Musharraf Hossain Mian (2006 – 2007) (18th)
 * 9) Md. Akhtar Hossain (2007 – October 2008)
 * 10) MA Sattar Mandal (15 November 2008– 2011)
 * 11) Rafiqul Haque (11 August 2011 – 8 April 2015) (22nd)
 * 12) Md. Ali Akbar (24 May 2015 – 23 May 2019) (23rd)
 * 13) Lutful Hassan (30 May 2019 – 29 May 2023) (24th)
 * 14) Emdadul Haque Chowdhury (12 July 2023 – present) (25th)

Faculty and departments
There are 44 departments under 6 faculties and 3 institutions.

Faculty of Veterinary Science
Veterinary Science faculty is the leading faculty of the university which established in 1961. This faculty has gifted quality Veterinarian for the country and contributed to animal reproduction to enhance profitability in farm level. The graduates are working in reproduction & Production diversified field (Farm Animals, Pet Animals, Avian and wildlife) of livestock by applying knowledge of clinical science like Theriogenology, Obstetrics, clinical physiology, pathology. Veterinarians has huge scope in research organization, commercial breeder farms, agro-industries, milk and meat processing industries, private clinics. Along with these, Faculty of Veterinary Science is contributing on research for diseases, zoonoses, health improvements, livestock reproductive health and development. Besides, this faculty has huge contribution in poultry and dairy industry. Degree offered by the faculty-
 * Department of Anatomy and Histology
 * Department of Physiology
 * Department of Microbiology and Hygiene
 * Department of Pharmacology
 * Department of Parasitology
 * Department of Pathology
 * Department of Medicine
 * Department of Surgery and Obstetrics
 * Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM)
 * Master's of Science.
 * PhD

Faculty of Agriculture
The Faculty of Agriculture was established in 1961. It has the following departments:
 * Department of Agronomy
 * Department of Soil Science
 * Department of Entomology
 * Department of Horticulture
 * Department of Plant Pathology
 * Department of Crop Botany
 * Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding
 * Department of Agricultural Extension Education
 * Department of Agricultural Chemistry
 * Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
 * Department of Physics
 * Department of Chemistry
 * Department of Languages
 * Department of Agroforestry
 * Department of Biotechnology
 * Department of Environmental Science
 * Department of Seed Science and Technology
 * Department of Food Safety and management
 * Departments of Agrometeorology
 * Currently the faculty of Agriculture is offering the following degree programs:
 * BSc Ag. (Hons)
 * M.S.
 * PhD

Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology
This faculty was established in 1964 and currently it offers 3 degrees.

BSc (Eng.) in Agricultural Engineering, Food Engineering and Bioinformatics Engineering.
 * Department of Farm Structure and Environmental Engineering
 * Department of Farm Power and Machinery
 * Department of Irrigation and Water Management
 * Department of Food Technology and Rural Industries
 * Department of Computer Science and Mathematics

Faculty of Animal Husbandry
Faculty of Animal Husbandry at Bangladesh Agricultural University was established in 1962.
 * Department of Animal Breeding and Genetics
 * Department of Animal Science
 * Department of Animal Nutrition
 * Department of Poultry Science
 * Department of Dairy Science

Currently the faculty of Animal Husbandry is offering the following degree programs:
 * BSc A.H. (Hons)
 * M.S.
 * PhD

Faculty of Agricultural Economics and Rural Sociology

 * Department of Agricultural Economics
 * Department of Agricultural Finance
 * Department of Agricultural Statistics
 * Department of Agribusiness and Marketing
 * Department of Rural Sociology

Faculty of Fisheries

 * Department of Fisheries, Biology and Genetics
 * Department of Aquaculture
 * Department of Fisheries Management
 * Department of Fisheries Technology
 * Department of Marine Fisheries

Undergraduate programme
Undergraduate admissions in BAU are competitive. Admission related information is available on this website https://acas.edu.bd/.

As of 2016–2017 session, the general distribution of seats for admission into Level 1, Semester 1 of the undergraduate courses as offered by six faculties BAU will be as follows: This is including all Freedom fighters quota and other quotas.
 * Faculty of Veterinary Science: 191
 * Faculty of Agriculture (Agriculture- 402 + Food Safety Management- 30): 432
 * Faculty of Animal Husbandry: 191
 * Faculty of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology: 133
 * Faculty of Agricultural Engineering & Technology (BSc Agri. Engg. 100 + BSc Food Engg. 50): 150
 * Faculty of Fisheries: 133

Total enrollment per year = 1230.

Bangladeshi all Agriculture University association has decided that undergraduate admission test will be combined from academic session 2019–2020. After admission test merit list, students will admit according to the merit score of seven Agriculture University. All seven Agriculture University has available seats 3551 including Bangladesh Agriculture University.

Every students must have minimum HSC and SSC requirements to appeared on the Agricultural Admission Exam.

MS/PhD program
M.S. and PhD programs are available as follows:
 * Faculty of Veterinary Science: Anatomy & Histology, Microbiology & Hygiene, Parasitology, Medicine, Pathology, Physiology, Pharmacology, and Surgery & Obstetrics.
 * Faculty of Agriculture: Agronomy, Soil Science, Crop Botany, Plant Pathology, Horticulture, Entomology, Agricultural Extension Education, Agricultural Chemistry, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Genetics & Plant Breeding, Physics, Chemistry, Languages, Agroforestry, Biotechnology and Environmental Science.
 * Faculty of Animal Husbandry: Animal Breeding & Genetics, Animal Nutrition, Animal Science, Poultry Science, and Dairy Science.
 * Faculty of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology: Agricultural Economics, Cooperation & Marketing, Agricultural Finance, Agricultural Statistics, and Rural Sociology.
 * Faculty of Agricultural Engineering & Technology: Irrigation & Water Management, Farm Power & Machinery, Farm Structure, Food Technology & Rural Industries and Computer Science & Mathematics.
 * Faculty of Fisheries: Fisheries Biology & Genetics, Aquaculture, Fisheries Management, and Fisheries Technology.

Publications
The Journal of the Bangladesh Agricultural University (ISSN 1810-3030) is published in June and December on behalf of the Bangladesh Agricultural University Research System (BAURES). Original research papers, review articles and short communications are published.



Bilateral collaborations
The university signed memoranda of understanding with the Texas A&M University, Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and many other universities.

Alumni

 * M. Golam Shahi Alam, veterinarian and university administrator
 * Goutam Buddha Das, animal nutritionist and university administrator
 * M. Afzal Hossain, biochemist and university administrator
 * Md. Tofazzal Islam, biotechnologist
 * Mohammad Abdur Razzaque, Minister of Agriculture since 2019
 * Shawkat Momen Shahjahan, MP for Tangail-8 (1986–1988, 1999–2001, and 2008–2014)
 * Shamsul Alam, Economist, former state minister of PlanningBangladesh).