PAU Decks Up For Kisan Mela

Ludhiana, September 24, 2015: The campus of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) is all decked –up for the two-day Kisan Mela, which is being celebrated with the theme “Don’t make the land infertile by burning paddy straw and making excessive use of water, pesticides and fertilizers.” Prof.Kaptan Singh Solanki, Governor of Punjab and Haryana, will be the chief guest while Jathedar Tota Singh, Minister of Agriculture and NRI Affairs, Punjab will preside over the inaugural session of mela. Dr Daljit Singh Cheema, Education Minister, Punjab will be the guest of honour while Suresh Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary (Development), Punjab will be the special guest.

Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, said “Kisan Mela, initiated by PAU in 1967, is a highly important event for disseminating latest farm information and recent technologies among the farmers.” The feedback from the farming community helps in designing future research and extension strategies, he added. “Several agro-ecological problems such as depleting water resources, deteriorating soil health, nutrient deficiency, pollution of underground water and air pollution because of paddy straw burning are arising in contemporary agriculture scenario,” he pointed out. The mela aims at exhorting the farmers to adopt scientific farming and make judicious use of natural resources, he said.

Dr R.S. Sidhu, Director of Extension Education, said the main attractions of mela will be agro-industrial exhibition, field demonstrations, soil and water testing, produce competitions, diagnosis of disorders in plant samples, sale of farm literature, farmers’ interaction with experts, technical session, and cultural programme.

Dr Chander Mohan, Additional Director Communication, said the stalls of PAU farm publications will be set-up at four different spots in the University including that at agro-industrial exhibition ground; farm of Director (Seeds); near old building of Centre for Communication and International Linkages (CCIL); and near new building of CCIL which is next to Farmers’ Service Centre.