VOCATIONAL TRAINING COURSE ON “PIG FARMING” CONDUCTED AT KVK AMRITSAR

Ludhiana, November 17, 2023: A seven days vocational training course on “Pig Farming” was organized under the aegis of Punjab Agricultural University and ICAR-ATARI, Zone-I, Ludhiana at KVK, Amritsar from November 7-16 in which 20 farmers and rural youth from the districts of Amritsar and Tarn Taran participated. The training course was organized under the able guidance of Dr. Bikramjit Singh, Associate Director (Training), KVK, Amritsar.

On the very first day, Dr. Bikramjit Singh extended a warm welcome to the participants and shared the mandates and working of KVK with them. He highlighted the importance and scope of pig farming as a subsidiary occupation in agriculture and inspired the trainees to adopt pig farming for income and employment generation. He also urged the farmers to get maximum benefit of the services provided by the KVK.

Dr. Kanwarpal Singh Dhillon, Assistant Professor (Animal Science), KVK, Amritsar acted as course coordinator and imparted detailed knowledge on various topics including pig breeds, feeding, housing, marketing, vaccination and disease management of pigs to run a successful scientific pig farm both at local or commercial level. The trainees were also made aware about the economics of pig farming and method of record keeping.

Dr. Parminder Singh Sandhu, Veterinary Officer, Amritsar shared information regarding facilities provided by animal husbandry department and available schemes like KCC for pig farmers.

S. Bikramjit Singh Warraich, President, Piggery Farmer’s Welfare Association, Amritsar shared his experience with the trainees about initial difficulties in pig farming business and cleared their doubts.

Two exposure visits were arranged to the farm of the progressive pig farmers S. Bikramjit Singh Warraich of village Fatehghar Shukarchak and S. Harpal Singh of village Ludhar where trainees had a fruitful interaction and gained the important tips.

A pre-knowledge test was administered to check the knowledge level of trainees about pig farming and vocational training programme concluded with post-knowledge test to know the gain in knowledge level of trainees about pig farming. A WhatsApp group was also formed to share the latest knowledge regarding pig and animal husbandry.

During closing ceremony, Dr. Kanwarpal Singh Dhillon thanked all the participants and motivated them to take up this new venture at new heights in future. Literature on pig was also provided to the trainees.