PAU to honour seven progressive farmers at kisan mela on March 24

Ludhiana, March 22, 2017: The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) will honour seven progressive farmers on the first day of Kisan Mela on March 24 for their excellence in agriculture, horticulture and allied agri-enterprises. The farmers will be honoured with plaques, citations and cash prizes.

S. Jagtar Singh Brar, a resident of village Mahima Sirja, district Bathinda, will be conferred with “Chief Minister Award” for making great strides in agriculture. This 58-year old farmer is M.A. English (Hons.) and carries out his farm operations on 40 acres of land in addition to 35 acres on lease. In 1977, he started cultivating potato and emerged as a lighthouse for other farmers. Having derived inspiration from him, Goniana block of Bathinda district is today known for successful potato growers. S. Brar has achieved more than 300 per cent cropping intensity. In 1996, the unsuccessful chilli cultivation failed to deter his spirits and with strong determination, he attached more than 50 farmers of his area with him and is currently growing chillies on 15 acres of land. He raises vegetable nursery in a self-designed poly house for self-consumption and for others. S. Brar has also adopted low tunnel technology for the last eight years for reaping profit. He is against wheat straw burning and believes that it should be pressed with rotavator, which enhances soil fertility. He makes judicious use of pesticides as per PAU’s recommendations, goes for soil testing for apt use of fertilizers, and uses leaf colour chart and tensiometer technologies for paddy cultivation.

S. Rajinder Singh Dhaliwal, a resident of village Aabuwal, district Ludhiana, will be awarded with “Chief Minister Award” for excellence in horticulture. A progressive farmer, S. Dhaliwal gave up the traditional paddy-wheat cultivation and started the grass cultivation on one acre area in 2006 after seeking technical guidance from the Department of Floriculture and Landscaping, PAU. He prepared a weed free grass roll from good quality variety, which was well-accepted by the nurseries of Punjab. At present, he is earning substantially by growing grass of seven different varieties on his 5 acres of land in addition to 12 acres on lease. He prefers online marketing and has his own website also. Not only this, he is also contributing to conservation of natural resources. He uses farm yard manure to maintain soil health, irrigates grass with sprinkler irrigation method, and uses fertilizers judiciously to protect environment from pollution. A member of PAU Kisan Club, S. Dhaliwal has been honoured by Borlaug Farmers’ Association for South Asia and Nuffield Australia Farming Scholars.

S. Vinder Singh, a resident of village Chhata Nanhera, district Sangrur, will be conferred with “Chief Minister Award” for touching new heights in horticulture. Giving up the traditional paddy-wheat cycle, he opted for crop diversification. In 1996, he started the cultivation of capsicum on one acre area on lease. Thereafter, he received training in hybrid seed production from Farm Advisory Service Centre, Sangrur. A well-read farmer with immense scientific knowledge, S. Singh started raising and selling nursery of capsicum after procuring male and female lines from PAU. Presently, he is producing hybrid seed and cultivating vegetables on his 8 acres of ancestral land and 7 acres on lease. He uses low tunnel technology and cultivates tomato, capsicum and cucumber in poly net house for high quality production. After grading and packaging vegetables, he self-markets his produce. He uses laser land leveler technology to level his fields, drip irrigation method to save water and green manure to maintain soil health. He makes prudent use of fertilizers on soil and water test basis. He has also adopted beekeeping, mushroom cultivation and dairy farming as subsidiary occupations, which add to his family income. He reads monthly magazine of PAU ‘Changi Kheti’ and other farm literature, and makes fellow farmers aware of farm technologies through Kisan Divas and demonstrations, organized with the support of Krishi Vigyan Kendra and Farm Advisory Service Centre.

S. Narinder Singh, a resident of village Ajowal, district Hoshiarpur, will be awarded with “CRI Pump Award” for excellence in organic cultivation. Since 2009, he is practicing organic farming on 10 acres of land. He is well-aware of the fact that organic cultivation is eco-friendly and protects soil, water and air. He uses organic manures for seed treatment, and insect-pest and disease management. In addition, he treats the seed with the ‘seed nectar’ prepared using lime stone water and animal urine. For maintaining plant health, he uses farm yard manure, green manure and vermi-compost. He has also set-up a vermi-compost unit and prepares natural fertilizer and natural weedicides. To promote organic cultivation, he has opted for self-marketing which has given him immense success. For agricultural development, he regularly participates in PAU Kisan Melas and follows social media and ATMA scheme of State Agriculture Department, Hoshiarpur. In 2016, S. Singh was honoured by Sarbat Da Bhala Trust and Punjab Jagriti Manch.

S. Hardeep Singh, a resident of village Kagga, tehsil Patran, district Patiala, will be conferred with “CRI Pump Award” for self-cultivation and adopting water conservation technologies. This 37-year old progressive farmer practices scientific farming on 12 acres of land. He grows paddy, wheat, chilli, cauliflower, brinjal, cucurbit, tomato, muskmelon, watermelon, summer moong and carrot. He uses drip irrigation technique and laser land leveler technology. In addition, he has adopted low tunnel technology for cultivation of watermelon and muskmelon, and also uses polythene sheet for growing muskmelon and tomatoes. He is of the view that this technology saves the crop from the frost and controls the temperature, resulting in better yield. For fertile land, he uses green manure and biofertilizers such as neem oil, Trichoderma, etc. According to him, the adoption of PAU recommended water saving technologies has resulted in decreasing water and fertilizer use by 70 and 50 per cent, respectively. To earn good profit, he markets his produce after carrying out survey of all the markets of the district.

S. Paramjit Singh, a resident of village Pawat, district Ludhiana, will be awarded with “CRI Pump Award’ for adopting farm mechanization. Engaged in agriculture for the last 16 years, he owns 29 acres and has taken 8 acres on lease, which he levels with laser land leveler technology. To save labour, he started with paddy transplanting on 2 acres after consulting the scientists of Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Samrala. Currently, he uses various technologies such as Happy Seeder for wheat sowing, paddy transplanter for transplanting paddy and paddy straw chopper-cum-spreader for paddy straw management. He uses farm machinery such as straw reaper, paddy transplanter, digger, Happy Seeder etc. on custom hiring basis and is promoting farm mechanization among other farmers. He received training in preparation of vermi-compost, safe use of pesticides, beekeeping, maize hybrid seed production, raising of mat type nursery of paddy, irrigation techniques and maintenance of farm machinery from Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Samrala and other sources. He maintains constant liaison with the experts of PAU, KVK (Samrala), and State Departments of Agriculture and Horticulture. He shares his experience with the fellow farmers through Doordarshan Kendra, Jalandhar; radio programmes and stage presentations at KVK.

S. Aparpal Singh Mahal, a resident of village Tungwali, district Bathinda, will be awarded “Sardarni Prakash Kaur Sra Memorial Award” for making a mark in horticulture. An ITI (Electronics) trained, S. Mahal has 12 years of rich experience in agriculture as well as horticulture. He has earned great recognition in cultivation of horticultural crops and adoption of subsidiary occupations. After acquiring training from Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana and Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Bathinda, he adopted beekeeping, mushroom growing, poultry and dairy farming as lucrative subsidiary ventures. Seeing his success, other farmers of his district are also following his footsteps. He prepares natural fertilizer and natural weedicides. Before cultivating vegetables and other crops, he consults PAU experts and sows high-yielding varieties as per their recommendations. In 2016, he was honoured with “Datawind Farmer Award” during Jat Expo. To learn about latest techniques, he participates in PAU Kisan Melas; training camps of Departments of Agriculture and Horticulture, Bathinda; visits Himachal Pradesh Agricultural University, Palampur and National Horticulture Research Centre, Karnal. He is an active member of Beekeepers Association, PAU; Punjab Naujwan Kisan Sanstha, Bathinda; Samaj Sewak Committee, Bathinda; and Youth Welfare Club, Bathinda.