Dr Mohammad Zaka-ur-Rab, a native of Aligarh (Uttar Pradesh), brought a wealth of expertise to his role as one of the pioneers of agricultural education and extension in Jammu and Kashmir. With a post-doctorate in Zoology, he joined as an assistant professor in zoology/entomology in 1961 at the erstwhile College of Agriculture Sopore. which was established as the first agricultural institution of J&K, in the building of Govt. Degree College Sopore. He took over as the principal of the Agriculture College on August 1, 1963. Later that year, the college was shifted to a new campus in Wadoora, 10 km from Sopore town and was named as Govt. Agriculture College, Wadoora. With the establishment of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology, J&K, the college was merged into it as its Faculty of Agriculture.
Zaka Sahab was a luminary educationist, a philosophical thinker, a visionary, and a man embedded with principles of honest living under whose leadership the infrastructure at Wadoora was developed which sufficed the needs of students till 2010.
A visionary with foresight, Zaka ur Rub brought glory to Agriculture College Wadoora and the name of Wadoora College became synonymous with innovations in agriculture, be it vegetable cultivation, cattle, poultry, floriculture, farm machinery, rabbit farming or any other stream of agriculture.
A scientist with critical thinking, innovative spirit, and an extensionist’s approach, Zaka Sahab had vast knowledge about the flora and fauna of Kashmir. As an administrator, he was soft-spoken, deadly honest, and worked on right things with the right approach, which led to the introduction of many novel ideas in the colleges, later on adopted by progressive farmers in the early seventies.
Zaka Sahab had brought glory to the institute both in academics, production and extension which was equally acknowledged by ICAR and State Administration. It was because of his foresight, recognised by many apex bodies at the state and national level, Agriculture College of Wadoora was able to create a special place among the contemporary agriculture institutions. The college not only excelled in cereals but also in dairy, poultry farming, sheep breeding, rabbit farming, floriculture, vegetable production, pulse production, apiculture, spices and farm mechanisation.
It was under his supervision that north Kashmir had its best dairy farm with the elite cattle breed of Jersey, Sahiwal, Tharparkar, Red Sindhi. The sheep farm had Marino and Corriedale Breeds. The poultry section was the most popular which used to attract farmers who wanted to start backyard poultry farming as an enterprise. During the early seventies, Zaka Sahab even established a small hatchery unit at the campus and established a cage system for poultry rearing, where the performance of each bird was recorded. The poultry farm had breeds like White Leghorn, Rhode Island Red, New Hampshire, and Red Plymouth Rock. He even introduced non-chicken poultry like Turkey and Guinea fowl.
The mechanisation of farm operations took the lead during his time. It was he who brought the farm under sprinkle irrigation which resulted in bumper production of vegetables and all these vegetables along with Eggs, Milk, and Green Maize Cobs used to be sold at identified places in the towns of Sopore, Kupwara and Baramula. There used to be a particular day for the sale of farm produce for each town and people used to wait to purchase and cherish the fresh produce from Wadoora.
The name of Wadoora College became synonymous with high-quality, off-season vegetables, fruits, milk, poultry products and many more. Everyone from the towns was familiar with the name Zaka Sahab, even without personally seeing or knowing him. Zaka Sahab introduced fodder crops other than Maize C15 like MP cherry, Bajra etc. His vision of integrated farm enterprise for rural youth led him to have a rabbit unit, apiculture and sericulture also.
He also was a pioneer in bringing Saffron cultivation out from Pampore Kerawas. His efforts brought splendour to the field of floriculture through the introduction of Rose varieties, Dahalia and above all Daffodils. The avenue planted with poplars in the Campus stands testimony to his efforts in bringing new things to campus. Zaka Sahab had eye on impact of climate on the agriculture of Kashmir which made him to establish a full-fledged unit of Agro-Meteorology in the Campus.
From an academic point of view, the college library was the busiest place often visited by faculty and students. The library used to receive Research Journals in almost all fields of agriculture and related sciences. I as a student remember well the flow of books, and magazines we used to get regularly in our College Library.
Zaka Sahab had helped the faculty in establishing excellent laboratories, especially in the discipline of Soil Science, Plant Pathology, and Entomology. He possessed good knowledge about Crops and published a book ‘Weeds of Field Crops of Kashmir’.
It was under dynamic leadership of Dr Zaka Sahab that the College used to have an annual vegetable show which used to last for two days and was usually inaugurated by personalities of high profile. The scenic beauty of Wadoora created by Crop geometry mesmerized dignitaries who visited the college during his tenure.
Zaka Sahab lived a very simple and honest life. He treated the employees and students of the college as his extended family. Their pleasure was his pleasure, and their sorrow was his sorrow. The man left for his eternal journey on Monday, November 13, 2023. May Allah grant him Janat ul Firdous. Ameen.
By PROF AH HAKIM
The author is ex-Dean, Faculty of Agriculture, SKUAST-K, Wadura