She gave up her medical seat so that she could sow some seeds of change for farmers hit hard by agricultural losses.

Being the daughter of a field assistant, she was in close quarters with the numerous farmer suicides stemming from sinking incomes.

On Monday, Suma K was a step closer to realising her dream. She shone bright with 12 gold medals at the 53rd convocation of the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bengaluru.

Suma is happy that she is well on course to her goal — of making agriculture a profitable business.

“I studied under the guidance of my father Krishnappa, who is a field assistant at GKVK (Gandhi Krishi Vignan Kendra). I gave up my medical seat because I wanted to make inventions in new breeds, which will be a boon for farmers burdened by heavy losses,” says Suma, who has seven gold medals and five gold medal certificates in her kitty.

After her schooling on UAS campus, Suma proceeded to MES college in Malleswaram. She completed her degree course from Agriculture Science College, Chintamani, Chikaballapur. She is currently pursuing MSc in Genetics and Plant Breeding at UAS.

Suma’s younger sister Priyanka is a student of BSc Agricultural Marketing. Her elder sister Kalavathi is married.

A total of 61 students bagged 120 gold medals at the convocation. Undergraduate students T D Gowda and Y L Ranjith bagged six gold medals each, while K H Bhagyashree secured five gold medals. In MSc, K A Shoba won six medals, besides topping the Masters programme.

In his convocation address, Baladev Singh Dhillon, V-C of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, urged the students to concentrate more on the genetics science of plants.