PUNJAB AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY INNOVATION FOR AGRI-DEVELOPMENT IN PUNJAB VITAL: CHIEF SECRETARY

LUDHIANA, FEBRUARY 28:-----



"New innovations are vital for the upgradation of agriculture and allied economy of Punjab. Without this, no success can be achieved," stated Mr. S.C. Agrawal, Chief Secretary, Punjab, while chairing the technical session on "Innovative Technologies for Sustainable Agriculture" at two-day "Farmer-Scientist Interface", which began today at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU). The programme has been organized by the PAU in association with Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU). Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, PAU Vice-Chancellor, Dr V.K. Taneja, GADVASU Vice-Chancellor, Dr Mangal S. Sandhu, Director of Agriculture, Punjab, Dr L.S. Brar, Director of Horticulture, Punjab, Dr H.S. Sandha, Director of Animal Husbandry, Punjab, and progressive farmers from across the state participated in the interface.



Congratulating the PAU for its 50 years of glorious service to the nation, Mr Agrawal called upon the scientists to make innovations in research to break the deadlock in the food grain production. There is need to overhaul scientific teaching, research, extension and administration, stressed he. The Punjab agriculture will benefit from the commercialization of dairy farming and net-house cultivation of vegetable crops. The farmers are opting for full-time dairy farming, remarked he, adding that the diversification and the new crop varieties are the need of the hour for agriculture development in the state. He inaugurated the exhibition, put up by the farmers and various departments of the PAU and GADVASU, which highlighted the net-house cultivation of vegetables, management of diseases and insect-pests of various crops, PAU technologies such as leaf colour chart and tensiometer, conservation of fodder for silage, balanced feeding of pigs, embryo transfer technology in cattle, importance of mineral mixture in dairy ration, value-added products and farm literature of both the universities.



The Co-Chairman of the technical session, Mr N.S. Kang, Financial Commissioner (Development), Punjab, lauded the tremendous contribution of the PAU to the nation's food buffer. Emphasizing on the sustainable growth of agriculture in Punjab, he said that the neat and clean environment, farm income enhancement and family welfare of the farmers need the attention of the experts. Remarking that the researchers and farmers should work hand-in-hand for developing new varieties, technologies and machinery, he added that the progress of agriculture depends upon the growth of researchers and the farmers. Mr Kang also stressed on curbing the prevailing social vices including drug menace and doing away with the show offs in the state for the benefit of future generations.



Mr G.S. Sandhu, Financial Commissioner, Animal Husbandry Dairy and Fisheries (AHD&F), co-chairing the session, said that same farmers are associated with both the universities. The experts should lay special thrust on developing the nutritious varieties of fodder as it will be of immense benefit to the dairy farmers. For agriculture growth, the prime focus should be on its "allied sectors" and "diversification" be it in terms of livestock, floriculture, fruits or vegetables, he added. The early the farmers adopt the new scientific technologies, the more successful they will be. The dairy sector alongwith the cattle breed improvement are vital segments of the contemporary agriculture, he told.



Dr A.M. Narula, Zonal Project Director, ICAR observed, "This year, 250 million tons of food grain production is expected in the country." India is an emerging economy, but the agriculture growth, in the last ten years, has been only 3 per cent. In view of the ever-increasing population and the rising costs of labour, fertilizers and inputs, the research and development should lay special emphasis on doubling the food grain production, reducing the costs of production and increasing the farm income of the farmers, he said.



Dr Sanjeev Saxena, Intellectual Property and Technology Management Unit, ICAR, spoke on "options for protection of innovations." He dwelt upon defensive mechanisms for protection, protection of innovations and knowledge and plant variety protections. The intellectual property rights (IPRs) are statutory rights and are territorial in nature. The breeder of the crop variety can make application which requires geographical location in India from where the genetic material has been taken, he told.



Dr Mahesh Patil, National Innovation Foundation (NIF), Ahmedabad, shared his views on "Experiences in promotion of grassroots innovations by Honey Bee Network." Dwelling upon the innovations including manual milking machine, dry land forestry techniques and multipurpose processing machine, he told that scouting and documentation, value addition, product development, dissemination and information technology are the major areas of the focus of the NIF.

Two progressive farmers Mr Prabpal S. Dhillon, Kasel, Tarantaran and Mr Surinder Singh Dhindsa, Phillaur, shared their experiences of agricultural activities and dairy farming. Mr Dhillon hailed the efforts of the scientists of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) and Farm Advisory Service Scheme(FASS) for their timely guidance to the farmers. Mr Dhindsa said that in view of increasing milk prices, net yield per buffalo is very low.



Besides, the technical sessions on "horticulture," and "livestock and fisheries," took place which were chaired by Dr K.R. Dhiman, Vice-Chancellor, Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan, and Dr A.K. Srivastava, Director, National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI), Karnal.



Earlier, Dr M.S. Gill, Director of Extension Education, PAU, welcoming the dignitaries and the participants, exhorted the farmers to share their views with the experts on the research finding for the agricultural sustainability. He told that new techniques have been adopted by the farmers with the initiatives of PAU and GADVASU. Dr R.S. Sahota, Director of Extension Education, GADVASU, proposed the vote of thanks and said that the two-day interface will be useful for the scientists as well for the farmers for setting up research priorities.



The participants were shown round the exhibition on agriculture, livestock, fisheries and value added products highlighting innovative efforts by scientists and farmers. Two publications were also released on the occasion.


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