(PAU)AGRICULTURE DESERVES STRONG FOCUS FOR PROGRESS: DR. MANOHAR SINGH GILL

LUDHIANA, MARCH 17:-----



During his visit to Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Dr. Manohar Singh Gill, Union Minister of Statistics and Programme Implementation interacted with Dr. Manjit Singh Kang, Vice-Chancellor, PAU. The Deans, Directors, Officers, Additional Directors participated in the interactive meeting.



Dr. Gill said that the Kandi Area accounting for nearly 10% area of the Punjab needs research and development planning. He added that it was a positive development that PAU has been catering to the technical needs of Kandi Region through its research and transfer of technology programmes. He shared how he was involved in the development of Kandi Region and the survey conducted with the Punjab Governor Mr. S.S.Ray. Dr. Gill appreciated the idea of opening of an agricultural college at Gurdaspur and said that the bordering districts must be given due focus. He discussed that formulating educational programmes for rural matriculate students in College of Agriculture and College of Home Science at PAU was a good idea of attracting students from rural areas but mentioned that the students should be prepared so that they are able to contribute toward rural development after their education.



Depleting water resource is a matter of serious concern that needs to be addressed at all levels. He suggested that the government should create a Directorate for water with a mandate to monitor the status of water table in different blocks of the state through a computer data base. Sharing his experiences on agriculture within the country and abroad, Dr. Gill said that the time has come to harness more from the available little. He emphasized that PAU scientists will have to work more harder for the sake of the welfare of farmers and farming of the state in the times to come. He observed that there were many emerging challenges in the face of our contemporary agriculture that would require renewed focus.



Dr. Gill shared how the apni mandi scheme was implemented to ensure that farmers could sell their produce themselves without the middlemen. The system worked well but needs to be reviewed again, he said. Dr. Gill appreciated that PAU has a research programme on developing wheat varieties tolerant to high temperature and technologies to conserve natural resources. He added that climate change was a serious subject for which the required focus was needed.



Dr. Manjit Singh Kang, Vice-Chancellor, PAU welcomed Dr. Gill and apprised him about the ongoing University programmes in agricultural research, education and transfer of technology. He said that PAU has top ranked among the State Agricultural Universities of India. He thanked Dr. Gill for visiting the University.
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