At PAU Kisan Mela, Farmers Advised To Supplement Their Income By Adopting Crop Diversification

PRIZES TO WINNERS OF VARIOUS COMPETITIONS
Ludhiana, March 19, 2016: "Supplement your income by adopting crop diversification, subsidiary occupations and cooperative marketing" said Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) while addressing the large gathering of the farmers and the farm women on the concluding day of the two-day Kisan Mela at PAU. The mela, organized by PAU Directorate of Extension Education, received an overwhelming response from the farming community.

Stating that the main purpose of diversification was to save water, Dr Dhillon urged the farmers to conserve this precious resource in the coming Kharif season. He further called upon the farmers to go for soil testing before fertilizers’ use, use new agro-chemicals as per requirement and manage paddy straw by using it for compost making and mushroom cultivation. Referring to basmati, he appealed the farmers not to increase area under it and incase sown, focus on its marketing. While making a call for adopting kitchen gardening, he suggested growing pulses and vegetables at household level for meeting family requirements and nutritional security. He also suggested testing new crop varieties under less area. Elaborating, Dr Dhillon disclosed that Happy Seeder technology has been modified and farmers must see the live demonstrations being given by PAU experts. "Keep record of farm expenses, go for cooperative use of farm machinery and marketing and see profits," he told the farmers. Later, Dr Dhillon gave away the prizes to winning farmers and farm women of various competitions.

Presenting highlights of PAU research programmes, Dr Balwinder Singh, Director of Research said that University was carrying collaborative research with various international institutions. "Research is being devised in view of changing climate and changing dietary habits," he told. "New crop varieties, requiring less water, less fertilizers, giving better yield, and having resistance to various insect-pests and diseases, were being developed," he added. Dr Singh also shed light on various crop protection-production technologies.

Earlier, welcoming the dignitaries, farmers and the farm women, Dr P.S. Aulakh, Additional Director of Extension Education, said, "There is a special bond between PAU and farming community, which has showed great regard and respect to this University."

On the occasion, Dr H.S. Kalsi, former Director, Regional Research Station, Faridkot was honoured for his outstanding contributions to the agriculture, especially, cotton cultivation.

During the mela, farmers made a long queue to purchase seeds of new and improved varieties of Kharif crops and University farm literature. Various stalls were put up by different departments and Krishi Vigyan Kendras of PAU, and experts addressed the queries of the visiting farmers on the spot. Throughout the mela, the Punjabi singers enthralled the audience with their power packed numbers.
PRIZES TO WINNERS OF VARIOUS COMPETITIONS

Winners of various competitions, held during two-day Kisan Mela, were given away prizes at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today.

In crop produce competition, Randhir Singh (Kaithal, Haryana), Satwinder Singh (Patiala), Tirath Singh (Sangrur), Karnail Singh (Fazilka), Manjit Singh (Sangrur), Amarjit Singh (Faridkot), Stanam Singh (Faridkot), Jasbir Singh (Sangrur) and Balkar Singh (Kapurthala) won first prizes in the category of potato, garlic, carrot, tomato, onion, brinjal, mushroom (dhingri) peas, capsicum, chappan kaddu, cauliflower and cucumber, respectively. Besides, Jog Singh (Bathinda), Hardeep Singh (Ferozepur), Bikar Singh (Bathinda), Rajinder Singh (Faridkot), Kaur Singh (Faridkot), Jinder Singh (Ropar), Jaswinder Singh (Mansa), Gurjit Singh (Ferozepur), Paramjit Singh (Fatehgarh Sahib) and Dharam Chand (Fazilka) got first prizes in the category of coriander, French beans, sugarcane, jaggery,cholia, turmeric, ber, lemon and guava. Gunitinder Kaur (Fazilka), Baldev Singh (Patiala), Sukhpal Kaur (Bathinda), Gamdor Singh (Sangrur) and Gurpreet Singh (Patiala) bagged first prizes in the category of flowers namely bil, rose, marigold, gerbera and statice.

In the competitions conducted by the PAU College of Home Science, G.K. Grewal (Ludhiana), Harjeet Kaur (Patiala) and Devinder Kaur (Ludhiana) got first prize in the preparation of nutritious foods using sprouts, patch work embroidery and paper bags making, respectively. Karminderjit Singh (Moga) won first prize in essay writing competition. Among Women Entrepreneur stalls, Jeet Foundation Self-Help Group (Ludhiana) bagged the first prize.

Besides, M/s John Deere (Pune) and M/s BCS India Pvt. Ltd. (Ludhiana) got first prize in the category of ‘tractors and combines,’ and ‘reapers, threshers and self-propelled equipments,’ respectively. M/s Tirath Agro-Technology Pvt. Ltd. (Gujarat), and M/s Kalyani Pumps Pvt. Ltd. (Ludhiana) won first prize for ‘tractor driven implements,’ and 'electric motors, engines and pumping sets,’ respectively. M/s Sharp Industries (Amritsar) and M/s Jain Irrigation (Jalgaon) got first prize for tools and sprayers, and water saving tools and machines, respectively. In addition, IFFCO (Ludhiana), M/s Sinochem India Co. Pvt. Ltd. (Mumbai) and Tara Health Foods Ltd. (Sangrur) won first prize for fertilizers, pesticides, and agro-processed products and machinery, respectively.