The present Oda Bultum University has been established as ChiroAgricultural School in 1986 with the objective of generating middle level skilled manpower that was certified in General Agriculture and Agricultural Mechanization after 3 years training. After 16 years of service, in 2002, the School was upgraded and named as Chiro Agricultural Technical Vocational and Educational Training College under Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to produce middle level skilled and competent Development Agent at diploma level. Before named as Oda Bultum University, the Agricultural Technical Vocational and Educational Training College was also upgraded to College of Agro-industry and Land Resource under the umbrella of Haramaya University in January 2010 to engage in offering four regular undergraduate degree programs and three special Bega programs in collaboration with Oromia National Regional State and become independent university in November 2015 that proceed to offering regular and Special Bega undergraduate degree program.
College of Agriculture, founded in December 2016, is fully dedicated to the three pillar of mandate given to the institution in advancing Agricultural development of the country through producing competent, skillful and highly qualified professionals by rigorous theoretical and practical based training and also solving bottle neck problem and disseminating agricultural technologies and strives for the communities in the mandate area of the university. So that, the staff members of the college are undertaking various research activities in the areas of Socio-Economics, Grain, Root and Tuber Crops, Plant protection, Mushroom, Beef and Dairy Cattle, Poultry, Apiculture and Animal Health and also take part in different community service activities like training of farmers and development workers, on-farm demonstrations of improved agricultural technologies; basic seed multiplication and distribution and moveable poultry house along with other packages to generate and transfer agricultural technologies of crop and livestock as one of the institution.
Currently, the college has 5 PhD, 54 MSc and 6 BSc holder academic staffs and 8 technical assistant for the accomplishment of its mandate given to the higher institution, training, research and community service and also 18 PhD and 13 MSc staffs will be expected to join the college from the study leaves.in the coming three years. We, the College of Agriculture offer five BSc; Agricultural Economics, Animal Science, Food Science and Postharvest Technology and Plant Science of four year program, and three MSc level; Agronomy, Animal Production and Crop Protection, trainings postgraduate program. From these BSc and MSc training program, two BSc; Animal and Plant Science, and two MSc; Agronomy and Crop protection, trainings are also run in summer (Bega) and weekend program.
College of Agriculture; that contributes remarkably to the overall mission of Oda Bultum University in teaching, research and community engagement and to be well known University in the country by 2030 in Social value Development, Natural Resource Management and Agro-processing Technology. This is due to there is more need for Agricultural professionals who are entering to find the way to increase the production and productivity of Agriculture, as the population pressure, climate change and limited use of improved crop and livestock technologies, through efficient and effective utilization of the limited available resources is intended to advance knowledge, enhance technology creation and transfer, promote entrepreneurship and work on attitude change than ever on teaching, research and community service in Agriculture. Hence, college of Agriculture planned to work on the excellence of academic in launching of additional departments; Agribusiness and Value Chain Management, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, Rural Development and Agricultural Extension, Veterinary Laboratory, Food Science and Nutrition of undergraduate program and Range Science and Biodiversity, Animal Genetics and Breeding, Animal Nutrition, Animal Biotechnology, Food Science and Nutrition, Plant Pathology, Plant Breeding, Plant Biotechnology, Agricultural Entomology, Horticulture and Food Science and Post-harvest Technology in postgraduate program to avert the existing problems and continue to play our leading role in Agriculture and related fields.
Sisay Lemma (MSc, Asist. Prof.)
Dean, College of Agriculture