Ludhiana, April 27
Punjab Chief Secretary Anurag Verma toured farmers’ fields at Mutton village of Samrala district to take stock of the wheat sown using the Surface Seeder technology.
The Punjab Chief Secretary was delighted to see the positive outcome of the use of this technology in the fields of one Harinder Singh. He urged farmers of nearby villages to adopt this technology, and popularise it among others as well.
Verma was accompanied by Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Sakhshi Sawhney, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) Vice-Chancellor Dr Satbir Singh Gosal, Registrar Rishi Pal Singh, Director of Research Dr AS Dhatt and agronomist Dr Jasvir Singh Gill.
Commending the PAU for the development of eco-friendly as well as farmer/farm-friendly ‘Surface Seeder-Mulching’ technique, Verma said scientific farming is the need of the hour.
Throwing light on the advantages of the technology, Dr Gosal said that wheat sowed using the Surface Seeder-cum-Mulching technique produced quality grains and remained unaffected by the attack of diseases such as yellow rust and weed gulli-danda (phalaris minor). These diseases have been affecting the wheat yield, leading to drastic reduction in profits.
In addition to crop residue management in three to four weeks between paddy harvesting and wheat sowing, the Surface Seeder-cum-Mulching technique has also led to an increase in soil carbon as well as wheat yield, he observed.
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