The Skill Development Centre, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), organized a one-day Training Course on “Cultivation of Dragon Fruits in Punjab” for in-service candidates under the guidance of Dr M.S. Bhullar, Director of Extension Education, here today. A total of seven participants from the Department of Horticulture, Punjab, and Scientists from Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVK) attended the course.
Dr Kuldeep Singh, Associate Director (Skill Development) highlighted during his discourse that cultivation of exotic fruits like dragon fruit can be an excellent source of income for farmers and extension scientists can play an important role for the dissemination of technology for cultivation of dragon fruit.
Dr Prerna Kapila, Assistant Professor, and Coordinator of the course, shared the health benefits of dragon fruit and discussed the upcoming training courses in this field. Dr Sanjula Sharma, Biochemist, discussed the nutritional importance of dragon fruit, adding that it is high in vitamin C, beta carotene, lycopene and betalaim which help combat free radicals and reduce the risk of chronic diseases. Dr. Trina Adhikary shared informative insights regarding the importance and scope of dragon fruit cultivation in Punjab.
Dr Jaswinder Singh Brar, Principal Fruit Scientist and Technical Coordinator, discussed the production technology for successful Dragon fruit cultivation in Punjab. Dr Harpreet Singh, Plant Pathologist (Fruits), deliberated upon various diseases with regard to the dragon fruit.
The trainees later visited the dragon fruit experimental and plantation areas in PAU. Dr Prerna Kapila proposed the vote of thanks and motivated the trainees for cultivation of dragon fruit.
Read more: https://www.pau.edu/index.php?_act=manageEvent&DO=viewEventDetail&dataE=datae&intID=9375
