President Pranab Mukherjee today said agricultural institutions of learning must focus on growth and quality improvement. He was addressing the 29th Convocation of Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture & Technology at Udhamsingh Nagar district in Uttarakhand. He said Institutional tie-ups must be pursued to leverage expertise. He also stated that the partnerships with other agricultural institutions must be taken up for joint research. <br/><br/>Mr. Mukherjee emphasised that sustainable agriculture must return to its roots by rediscovering the importance of healthy soil, drawing on natural sources of plant nutrition and using fertilizers judiciously and effectively. The President stated that in the Global Hunger Index 2015, India has been ranked 80th out of 104 countries which is a matter of concern. He stated that we have to improve the nutritional status of our population in a time-bound manner.