Bhawanigarh, August 17:- The Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sangrur, under the guidance of the Director of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana and the Director, ICAR-ATARI, Zone-1, Ludhiana, organized five-day training programmes at villages Balad Kalan and Rajpura, Block Bhawanigarh, to sensitize farmers about crop residue management practices. A total of 50 farmers from both villages participated in these training programmes. They were trained in the efficient management of paddy straw using different methods and machinery.
Dr. Mandeep Singh, Incharge, PAU-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Sangrur, while warmly welcoming the participating farmers, informed them about the importance of crop residue management in the present scenario and the harmful effects of burning paddy straw on the environment as well as on soil health. He emphasized that it is extremely important to incorporate crop residue into the field to increase the organic carbon in the soil. He also discussed the economics of different methods of wheat sowing after paddy harvesting. He informed that a "CRM Machinery Bank" has been established for farmers at KVK, Sangrur, from where marginal and small farmers can take farm machinery on reasonable rent and manage stubble efficiently in their fields. Apart from this, he also informed about various vocational training courses organized by KVK, Sangrur on different subjects to increase the income of farmers.
Dr. Sunil Kumar, Assistant Professor (Farm Machinery and Power Engineering), made the farmers aware about the ill effects of burning paddy straw and gave detailed information about various farm machinery for efficient management of paddy straw in the field such as Super SMS attached Combine, Happy Seeder, Super Seeder, Smart Seeder, Surface Seeder, Mulcher, Cutter-cum-Spreader and Reversible Ploughs. He also cleared the fears and doubts of farmers regarding the use of different machinery in the field.
Dr. Rukinderpreet Singh Dhaliwal, Assistant Professor (Agronomy), gave information about improved agronomic practices, weed management and fertilizer management for sowing wheat while retaining paddy straw in the fields.
Dr. Inderjit Singh Bhatti, Block Agriculture Officer, Sunam, threw light on the farmer welfare schemes of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare. He also gave information about subsidy schemes for purchasing CRM machinery and the procedure to apply online. He motivated the farmers to adopt in-situ stubble management to improve soil health.
Dr. Gurbir Kaur, Assistant Professor (Plant Protection), gave information about seed treatment of wheat sown in stubble and prevention of pink stem borer in wheat, alongwith various diseases affecting the wheat crop and their proper management.
Dr. Mukesh Kumar, Veterinary Officer, Sangrur, shared information about using paddy straw as animal feed and as bedding material in dairy farming.
All the farmers were provided with PAU farm literature under the CRM project. An exhibition of CRM machinery was also organized and detailed information about its proper use was shared. The farmers thanked the entire team of KVK, Sangrur and expressed commitment to manage paddy straw in the field itself.