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The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) began life in 1868 as an agricultural school in Saidapet, Chennai, in India¡¯s Tamil Nadu. It was then moved to Coimbatore in 1906 and was the lead provider of agricultural education and research, as well as supporting the State Agricultural Department through the delivery of research packages.

Until 1946, the Agricultural College and Research Institute, Coimbatore was the only one of its kind in Southern India. In 1958, it gained the status as a postgraduate centre for master's and doctoral degrees and merged with the Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai (established in 1965).

The Tamil Nadu Agricultural University was established in its current form in 1971. A third agricultural college was added in Killikulam in 1984 and a fourth was set up at Kumulur in 1989.

The university has 15 constituent colleges and eight affiliated colleges. Affiliated colleges offer only undergraduate studies. Students can choose to study from 13 undergraduate degree programmes, 40 graduate degree programmes and 26 doctoral degree programmes.

As well as the above, TNAU offers the opportunity study at its Directorate of Open and Distance Learning. Established in 2005, this centre was a first among agricultural state universities and its aim is to teach technical knowledge on technologies in agriculture and agro-based industries to those who cannot attend campus-based education.

TNAU also has 36 research centres for the development of agro technology and 14 farm science centres for outreach.

Coimbatore, also known as Kovai is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It has a population of 1,601,400 and is located on the banks of the Noyyal River. After Chennai, it is the second largest city in the state and the 16th largest urban Indian agglomeration.