Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
* Punjab important part of India’s growth-Bleser
Chandigarh, Germany and Punjab today agreed in principal to join hands to give a fillip to organic farming in the State
It was agreed in a meeting of a delegation from Germany led by Mr. Peter Bleser, Parliamentary State Secretary (Vice Minister) Ministry of food and agriculture comprising of representatives of German ministry of food and agriculture, federal parliament and government agencies that called on Punjab Agriculture MinisterJathedar Tota Singh.
Jathedar Tota Singh impressed upon german minister that Punjab, The bread bowl ofindia has played a key role in making india self sufficient on food security front and now Punjab and Germany should join hands to promote organic farming in the state. It was agreed in the meeting that PAU would exchange technological know how with Agricultural universities of Germany and would jointly work to come out with new strains of pest resistant crops.
Then, Jathedar Tota Singh listing out the achievements of Punjab, said that the agricultural land in the state is only 1.5 percent of india and inspite of that the state has immensely contributed wheat to the national pool. He said that the state has 151 main yards while in rural areas there are 1700 purchase centres and 6 agencies procure wheat, paddy and rice at MSP. He said that the government is developing custom hiring method through village co-operatives to help farmers and also trying to reduce the use of pesticides to minimize damage to crops.
Further elaborating, the Minister said that the state government is actively promoting green manures and organic farming and also encouraging local manufacturers to produce machines. He disclosed that the state government is using ground water re-charging to stop depletion of ground water. He also conveyed that the government is encouraging farmers to adopt crop diversification techniques so that their income is enhanced. He said that the government is also providing subsidy to drip system.
Mr. Peter Bleser informed that farmers in Germany are trained at high level to equip them with latest know how of this field. He also informed that Germany has very advanced technology in seed and animal genetics. He also said that Punjab is a very important part of India’s growth story and both sides should have cultural and technological exchanges.
On the occasion , the Vice Chancellor of Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Mr. Baldev Singh Dhillon made a presentation to the visiting delegation about Agriculture inPunjab and said that the green revolution ushered an era of prosperity which was supported by factors like- expansion in irrigated area, farm mechanization, agricultural credits from the Government. He said that Punjab is the largest contributor to the national buffer stock and is the topmost state in terms of productivity in wheat and paddy. He however also underlined some areas of concern like- Erosion of soil health and over use of agro-chemicals affecting crops.
During the meeting, Member of German parliament Ms. Mechthild Heil, representatives from German Government agencies, Industry and commerce and Commissioner, Agriculture, Punjab, Balwinder Singh Sidhu, Director, Agriculture, Punjab, Mangal Singh Sandhu, Director, Horticulture, Punjab, Gurkanwal Singh, Director, Seed Certification Authority, Punjab, Ranjit Singh, M.D. Punjab Agro Industries Corporation, K.S. Pannu, Chairman Farmers Commission, G.S. Kalkat, Additional Chief Secretary (Development), Suresh Kumar, M.D. Punjab State Warehousing Corporation, Arvinder Singh Bains and Additional Managing Director,Punjab State Warehousing Corporation Harshuhinderpal Singh were also present.
