Research and Farm-based Campus Hathazari

Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University

Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU) is a public university in Bangladesh. It is the only specialized veterinary university in Bangladesh. It is located at Khulshi, Chttogram. The chancellor of the university is President Abdul Hamid. Generally, the public universities in Bangladesh offer a degree in the department. Like every other agricultural university in Bangladesh, CVASU offers a degree in faculty. Research and Farm-based campus is a research and farm-based campus of the university which is located at Hathazari Upazila in Chattogram. Two new institutes, two new faculty, Farm & Hatchery, and research centers for post graduate students will be opened at the campus. A total of 222 crore taka will be spent to construct the campus.

This ‘Research and Farm-Based Campus’ of the CVASU is being developed on 20 acres of land at the Hathazari Upazila headquarters. In the aim of establishing this campus, the honourable prime minister of Bangladesh has approved a developmental project costing 180 crore taka in 2016. Under this project academic building, research building, administrative building, TSC building, developed Laboratory, dairy, poultry and goat farms, laboratory animal, ponds, hatchery and food processing plant, pilot plants for food industries, dairy research unit, pasture land, organic food research field, poultry research unit, hatchery, Food Safety & Nutrition research institute will be developed on the campus for field-level research and practical classes at a cost of around Tk 65 crore. A central library, hospital, central mosque, TSC, two residential halls for students have been built already at Hathazari campus. Teacher’s dormitory, stuff’s quarter, officers’ dormitory. The decisions finalized to name the three newly constructed buildings of this campus as Bangabandhu Hall, Academic Building after the name of ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury and Research Building as Akhtaruzzaman Babu. There are three faculties are running now in the university they are Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Food Science & Technology, and Faculty of Fisheries.

The mission and vision of the university are the creation of higher education and research opportunities and innovation of technology at the national level through the creation of international quality up-to-date graduates. And the mission to develop separate roles at the national and international levels. Ensuring food security by increasing animal-safe food production to improve public health. Provide research, technology innovation, and services on animal resources, food technology and fisheries resources.

Faculty of Veterinary Medicine

Chattogram Government Veterinary College (CGVC) was established in the year 1995 under the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries. The aim of the establishment of the veterinary college in south-eastern region of Bangladesh was to produce skilled manpower who can render their service to livestock population in all over the country particularly in southern part of the country. Later on The Chattogram Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU) was established by the Act of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh on 07 August, 2006 started with the first and only Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. This institute has some salient feature which stands unique from other veterinary school in Bangladesh. Every year final year student of Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) went to Madras Veterinary College for one-month internship clinical training. 

At present there are 88 teachers in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine in 9 Departments. Here DVM course is 5 years’ professional degree programme including 1-year internship programme. Besides India students visit USA, Malaysia, Thailand, Japan for their internship. This university has very busy state-of- the-art teaching veterinary hospital at the campus and another is off campus Purbachal, Dhaka. Here the students of other veterinary schools of Bangladesh come regularly to do internship even students from overseas like USA, Germany, Malaysia come to do their internship at this teaching veterinary hospital.

Problem based learning (PBL) student centred pedagogy was introduced into course curriculum of the Faculty of Veterinary Science with technical help from the Tuft Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine (TCSVM), Massachusetts, USA in the year 2017. This PBL is followed also in Jhenidah Govt. Veterinary College. This institute is pioneering in establishment of PBL in the course curricula. Faculties from this university trained other Veterinary school facilities in introducing PBL in the course curricula.

To facilitate the undergraduate and post-graduate students Hathazari Farm based campus will be organized with world class mini dairy farm including dairy plant, sheep and goat farm, poultry farm, laboratory animal shed, research shed and teaching and training veterinary hospital.

Faculty Food Science and Technology

Food Science and Technology Faculty is a vigorous faculty with the reputation of being among the top five food science schools in Asia. It embodies the visionary idea of the University's founding charter: to provide the nation's needs in the field of food science and technology through teaching, research and professional services. The vision has systematically evolved and implemented by committed faculty members and supporting staffs who constantly share ideas with one another, with scientists in the academia and research institutions and with the industries and customers. To meet the emerging demand of the country for suitable and appropriate graduates the mission of the faculty is to create an excellent centre for education and research in food science and technology in relation to the global development and advancement in the areas of food processing, nutrition and food industries. 

Pilot plants of the food Science faculty allow such education and training of students, which facilitate their rapid adaptation to the manufacturing process and a linkage with allied industries. That is why our graduates have wide possibilities of employing both at home and abroad. Bangladesh's development trajectory in the future will hinge, among others, on sustainable industrial development. This is also highlighted in "2030 Sustainable Development Agenda" under a number of goals and targets (Goals are 1, 2 and 3). To fulfill our mission, Pilot Plants will support departmental research, enhance student learning with hands on experience, develop a new & value added food product with the variation in diet and preserve the fresh & processed foods.Such type of interactive work in Pilot plants givesevery possible synergistic approach providing the faculty with a very successful for Faculty of Food Science and Technology.

There are three units in food pilot plant:

1. Baking and confectionary unit, 

2. Fruits and vegetables processing unit and

3. Juice and beverage unit.

Faculty of Fisheries

A modern fish farm complex, under the faculty of fisheries, is being developed at the research and farm based campus of CVASU in Hathhazari, Chattogram. The fish farm complex will be developed within a total area of 0.7-0.8 acre which will include most of the proto type’s modern research facilities to produce quality graduate with practical exposure.

To discover and disseminate new knowledge about the culture, biology, physiology, breeding and genetic improvement of fish and other commercially important aquatic species.

1. To develop skilled manpower for the development of aquaculture in freshwater environment.

2. To equip students with advanced aquaculture techniques such as Raceway, Recirculatory Aquaculture System, Hatchery Management and Live Feed Culture.

3. Produce quality graduates to take the lead in fisheries sector through their achieved knowledge.

4. To create new research era in freshwater especially in the Halda River and Kaptai Lake.

5. To create self-internship placement opportunity in different types of hatchery and intensive aquafarm with an emphasis on research based programs.

Faculty of Fisheries, CVASU to take the lead of Fisheries education of Bangladesh in near future is moving forward to make itself a complete package of Fisheries education through creating all the necessary facilities for practical learning and research to produce excellent quality graduates. With an objective to be self-dependent for providing internship placement to the final year students, adequate research facility to Masters and PhD students as well as for the faculty members, it is going to launch a complete package of fish farm complex which will include all the research facilities related to freshwater at its Hathhazari campus. The master plan of this farm complex includes the following units-

1.12 small experimental pond complex

2. A complete molecular biology research lab

3. A proto type freshwater prawn hatchery

4. A proto type freshwater fish hatchery

5. A proto type intensive in-pond raceway system

6. A proto type super-intensive recirculatory aquaculture unit

7. A proto type intensive indoor biofloc unit

8. Proto Rooftop aquaponics unit

9. A proto type fish drying unit

10. A lake complex at the backyard of the research campus

11. A proto type live feed research unit

12. A proto type complex integrated aquaculture pond

Further, the fish farm complex will include additional space for running different types of research experiments. Having all those facilities including the marine research station at Cox’s Bazar and Research Vessel at Kaptai Lake, it is expected that, Faculty of Fisheries, CVASU will be pioneer in Fisheries education and research in near future.