Revamp co-op societies system

Ramesh Inder Singh said that Parkash Singh Badal had instructed the Punjab Agriculture University to re-orient farm research and make it more practical. PAU should come out with new crop varieties to help diversify the cropping pattern that could benefit the farmers, he added.

He said that the Food and Agriculture Organisation had recommended biological control of the ball worm in the cotton crop. Excessive use of chemical fertilisers, insecticides and pesticides was affecting the quality of foodgrains.

He disclosed that Punjab had introduced the system of imparting latest farm technology on Internet and through computers. The government would endeavour to provide computers in all schools in the state so that the rural youth could learn the use of computers. He assured the farmers that the government was alive to their problems and would do its best to redress their grievances. At a recent meeting with the Prime Minister, Badal had explained in detail the problems being faced by the farmers, he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Punjab Director of Agriculture Capt A S Randhawa called upon the farmers to make optimum use of fertilisers and weedicides. Balbir Punj Executive Editor of the Observer of Business and Politics, advocating the need for diversification of farming, appealed to the farmers to revert to the traditional farm practice and package.

About 3,000 bags of the foundation seeds of high yielding varieties of wheat developed by the Indian Agricultural Research Institute were distributed among farmers for multiplication. There was a great rush for the high yielding refined HD 2329 variety of seed. The farmers were taken round the demonstration plots of high yielding variety of paddy PUSA 44 and the world8217;s first dwarf variety of basmati PUSA Basmati-1.

An agriculture exhibition was organised. Farmers took keen interest in the new weedicide 8212; Leader 8212; being distributed by Monsanto. The weedicide has given results up to 97 per cent for killing phalaris minor during research conducted by the directorate of wheat research at Karnal.

In the morning session, there was mutual discussion between the farmers and scientists on the latest research, new varieties and maximising of returns.

The theme of the kisan mela was to improve growers8217; returns through agro processing.

Balbir Punj was honoured for his outstanding services in the field of agriculture journalism. He was given a silver plaque, a shawl and a citation.