Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Hoshiarpur organized a block level awareness camp on paddy residue management under the ongoing praali parbandhan chetna yatra campaign on 16th October, 2023 at village Todarpur of block Mahilpur in district Hoshiarpur. A large number of farmers from Todarpur & neighbouring villages- Panjaur, Pandori Ganga Singh, Ajnoha, Nadalon & Jalvehra participated in this camp.
Dr. Maninder Singh Bons, Associate Director (Training), KVK Hoshiarpur, while addressing the gathering of the progressive farmers of the area discussed about various activities being conducted by KVK Hoshiarpur for the welfare of the farming community. Dr. Bons lauded the farmers of the area for adopting crop management practices successfully and urged them to carry forward this noble mission of non-burning of paddy residue in campaign mode. He sensitized the farmers regarding effective utilization of natural resources and efficient management of crop residue for sustainable agriculture and safeguarding the environment.
Dr. Bons informed that KVK Hoshiarpur had adopted Todarpur village in 2018-19 under the project on paddy residue management and KVK has been carrying out various activities especially for paddy straw management since then. Taking a cue from the lead by the KVK, the farmers of the village used paddy residue management machinery like Happy Seeder & Super Seeder for in-situ management & incorporated the paddy residue into the soil. Besides this, 6 baler knotters for baling of paddy residue have also been used extensively in this area and paddy straw is also being collected by Gujjar community for fodder purpose. The farmers of the village, after availing subsidy from Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, have formed five farm machinery banks having different straw management farm machineries which have helped in curbing the practice of paddy residue burning in the area. Hon’ble Former Chief Minister of Punjab, Capt. Amarinder Singh had also honoured the village Todarpur with Rajpal Punjab Sarvotam Pind Puraskar at Kisan Mela at PAU, Ludhiana Kisan Mela on 21-9-2019..
Dr. Ajaib Singh, Asstt. Professor (Agril. Engg.) in his technical lecture underlined the importance of managing paddy residue. He gave a detail overview of the different in-situ and ex-situ technologies for residue management and also threw light on the use of paddy straw in energy, as fodder, in mushroom cultivation, use in biogas plant and use in paper industry. Dr. Ajaib also informed that government is providing paddy residue management machinery on subsidy for this purpose and underlined the need for proper & efficient utilization of this machinery.
Dr. Navjot Singh Brar, Vegetable Breeder, Vegetable Research Farm, Khanoura discussed about the improved cultivation practices for vegetable crops. He shared important tips on seed production of potato and exhorted the farmers to come forward in this profitable venture. Dr. Brar also gave an insight on the role of FPOs in marketing of agricultural produce, especially vegetables.
Seeds of rabi crops-gobhi sarson, berseem, onion, taramira, fodder kits, rhizobuim cultures, mineral mixture and technical literature were made available for the benefit of the farmers on this occasion.
In the end, Sh. Bahadar Singh of village Panjaur proposed the vote of thanks to the experts and the participating farmers. The farmers assured full support for the noble cause of non-burning of paddy residue.
Read more: https://www.pau.edu/index.php?_act=manageEvent&DO=viewEventDetail&dataE=datae&intID=8203
