Discussions were held on natural resource management; livestock production and subsidiary occupations; processing, value addition and FPOs
The two-day Virtual Kisan Mela concluded at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) amidst panel discussions on natural resource management; livestock production and subsidiary occupations; processing, value addition and farmer-producer organizations (FPOs).
Dr JS Mahal, Director of Extension Education, expressed his gratitude to the farmers, farm women and youths of Punjab for making the mela a big success. Farmers are being provided facilities in Punjab and even at Singhu and Tikri borders, he said, while advising them to download Farm Inputs App for the purchase of quality seed.
During the discussion on ’Natural Resource Management,’ Dr OP Choudhary, Head, Department of Soil Science and moderator of the session expressed concern over groundwater depletion and crop residue management and made a call for conserving natural resources for clean air, water and food. The university has evolved various technologies, such as judicious use of fertilisers, adoption of less water requiring crops, fertigation, mulching, etc. for natural resource conservation, he added.
Dr GS Kocher, Head, Department of Microbiology; Dr MS Bhullar, Head, Department of Agronomy and Dr Sanjeev Chauhan, Head, Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, spoke on biofertilisers recommended for 18 crops (mainly wheat, paddy, maize, legumes, potato, onion, turmeric, etc.); operation of PAU Happy Seeder and weed management; and agro-forestry, respectively.
In the second panel discussion on ’Livestock Production and Subsidiary Occupations,’ Dr Jaspal Singh, Senior Entomologist, and Dr Shivani Sharma, Assistant Mycologist, deliberated upon beekeeping and mushroom production as profitable enterprises, respectively. Experts from GADVASU and PAU advised the farmers to acquire training in subsidiary occupations like dairy, pig, goats, poultry and fish farming as well as beekeeping and mushroom cultivation before adopting them as enterprises. Dr JS Hundal, Professor, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences (GADVASU), was the moderator of the session.
The moderator of the last session on “Processing, Value Addition and FPOs” was Dr Mahesh Kumar, Head, Department of Processing and Engineering. During the discussion, Dr Poonam A Sachedv, Head, Department of Food Science and Technology, and Dr Kiran Bains, Head, Department of Food and Nutrition, said that departments are engaged in training and value addition of fruits, vegetables, and cereal crops; and provided information on nutritious food (avoiding white sugar, tea with no sugar, etc.) respectively.
