The two firms are Dhanjal Agriculture Industries, Ludhiana and Punjab Engineering Works, Ferozepur, Punjab
A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) on tractor operated PAU Smart Seeder was signed between Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and two firms namely Dhanjal Agriculture Industries (regd.) Ludhiana and Punjab Engineering Works (regd.), Ferozepur, Punjab.
Dr Ajmer Singh Dhatt, Director of Research; Dr Ashok Kumar, Dean, College of Agricultural Engineering and Technology and Director of Extension Education; Dr Gursahib Singh Manes, Additional Director of Research (Farm Mechanization and Bioenergy) congratulated Dr Rajesh Goyal, Scientist and Dr Manpreet Singh, Extension Scientist, for the commercialisation of the technology.
The Head of the Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Dr Mahesh Kumar Narang said that this machine will help in managing paddy straw management as it has advantages of Super Seeder and Happy Seeder technology.
“PAU Smart Seeder manages the paddy residues by incorporation and surface mulching and thus, smartly retains the benefits of both Happy Seeder and Super Seeder in a single machine. PAU Smart Seeder places wheat seeds in a well-tilled narrow band of soil and covers the seed rows with soil, using furrow closing rollers. This machine can be operated with 45 to 50 hp tractor. The field capacity and fuel consumption of the machine is 0.4 ha/hour and 5.5 litre/acre, respectively,” he added.
In 2021, PAU in collaboration with its industry partners worked to stop paddy straw burning under the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) project initiatives and large-scale demonstrations/popularization of Smart Seeder were conducted on around 200 ha of area.
Dr Usha Nara, Plant Breeder, Technology Marketing and IPR cell, PAU informed that the university has signed 285 MoAs to date with different companies/firms/individuals. She also said that seven MoAs have been signed for this technology.
