Ludhiana, June 23
A group of seven Nuffield farming scholars from New Zealand, Brazil, Australia, Netherlands and USA visited the Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University. The group was received by Amarjit Singh, placement-cum-Liaison officer of the university. He apprised them about the university setup, its academic programmes and facilities for teaching and research. JPS Gill, Director of Research, apprised the delegation about the various ongoing research programmes and extension activities related to dairy farming, pig farming, goat farming among other things conducted by the university for farmers.
In their visit to the College of Dairy Science and Technology, Nuffield farming scholars interacted with the faculty of the college to understand the scenario of milk production and processing in Punjab. During discussion, it was emphasised that with high milk production in the state, the trend of manufacturing western dairy products such as various varieties of cheese was catching up in the state as well. The delegation was happy to learn that the College of Dairy Science and Technology was already working towards imparting cheese making training to farmers of Punjab.
AK Puniya Dean, College of Dairy Science and Technology, interacted with the scholars. He said various awareness camps and melas were also organised by the university to develop a connect with dairy farmers. Literature in regional language related to milk processing and quality assurance is available to farmers at every fair and camp. The delegation visited the milk-testing laboratory to see facilities provided by the college for milk and milk-product testing. The delegation visited the Experimental Dairy Plant, which is instrumental in training the dairy graduates as well as dairy farmers. After the visit, group members said their visit to Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University was an excellent learning experience.— TNS