SKUAST-K secures 100th patent

Srinagar, Nov 6: Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, Kashmir (SKUAST-K) has achieved a landmark milestone by securing its 100th patent, marking a historic moment in the university’s journey toward innovation-led growth and academic excellence.

Launched in 2020 under the World Bank-funded National Agricultural Higher Education Project (NAHEP), SKUAST-K initiated a comprehensive transformation of its academic and research framework, positioning innovation at the heart of its educational reforms.

It became the first State Agricultural University (SAU) in India to introduce an Innovation and Startup Policy (SISP) and establish a dedicated SKUAST-K Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship Centre (SKIIE) to nurture entrepreneurial culture and technology-driven solutions.

Over just four years, the SKIIE Centre has evolved into one of the country’s leading incubation ecosystems, propelling a new wave of student and faculty-led startups.

The university today boasts over 89 startups and 100 patents, with an impressive 43 filed in the first 10 months of 2025 alone.

The university’s innovation ecosystem is strengthened through multiple national-level programmes, including a DST-funded i-TBI Centre, a NABARD-supported Rural Business Incubation Centre, a BIRAC E-Yuva Centre, the JKCIP Incubation and Startup Component, and a MEITY-supported Startup and Commercialisation Project, creating a robust and inclusive platform for innovation, incubation, and entrepreneurship.

Reflecting on this milestone, SKUAST-K Vice Chancellor, Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai, said, “SKUAST-K has made a paradigm shift from education for innovation to innovation for education to realise our vision of becoming an innovation-led university. We have transformed our research focus from publication-oriented to problem-solving and product-driven outcomes that directly serve society.”

Under this renewed vision, the university has fostered translational research to develop science- based products, processes, and solutions for challenges in agriculture, environment, health, climate change, and food systems.

With only five patents in its first 40 years, SKUAST-K’s remarkable leap to 95 new patents in less than five years underscores its rapid innovation trajectory and strong institutional will. The university’s emphasis on its motto ‘Patents to Products’ has enabled the successful commercialisation of several patented technologies, linking innovation directly to market and societal needs.

Through faculty-led, student-driven startups, SKUAST-K has bridged the gap between laboratories and industries, ensuring that research translates into tangible benefits for farmers, entrepreneurs, and consumers.

“Our startups proudly branded as SKUAST-K BabyCorns symbolise the birth of a new innovation culture in the university. This milestone reflects the collective effort of our faculty, researchers, students, and innovation teams. It is a tribute to our commitment to build Viksit Jammu and Kashmir by harnessing the bioeconomy through technology-enabled solutions,” Prof Ganai said.

He also commended the IP and Technology Management Cell, the SKIIE Centre team, and all university faculties for their unwavering dedication to promoting innovation.

Prof Ganai urged the academic community to continue pursuing research with commercial, societal, and environmental value.

“This is not the culmination but the beginning of a new era where every research idea at SKUAST-K has the potential to become a product, a policy input, or a startup,” he said.

SKUAST-K’s century of patents stands as a testament to its innovation-led growth model, placing it among the leading state agricultural universities in India and reinforcing its role as a catalyst for bioeconomic transformation, entrepreneurship, and sustainable development in Jammu and Kashmir and beyond.

SKUAST-K is a leading institution in agricultural education, research, and innovation in India. With a vision to become an innovation-led, inclusive, and globally engaged university, SKUAST-K has redefined the higher education landscape by integrating outcome-based learning, translational research, and entrepreneurship.

The university’s focus on sustainability, digital transformation, and bioeconomy-driven growth has positioned it among the top three state agricultural universities in India (NIRF 2025) and as a national model for agricultural innovation and rural transformation.