Punjab Agricultural University organises programme on World Water Day, felicitates farmers

Our Correspondent

Sangrur, March 27

Conservation of water is a must for world peace. This is the reason that the theme of the ‘World Water Day’ i.e. ‘Water for peace’ was selected by the United Nations for this year. This was stated by Dr Rajesh Vashisht, Technical Advisor, Punjab Water Regulatory and Development Authority (PWRDA), today at a programme on ‘World Water Day’, organised by Centre for Water Technology and Management (CWTM), Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Kheri (Sangrur), at the farm of KVK, Kheri. In this programme, some farmers were felicitated by the organisers for taking up water saving practices in agriculture.

117 blocks out of 150 overexploited

• Technical Advisor (PWRDA) Dr Rajesh Vashisht said, “We are over drafting the groundwater by 164.11 per cent which resulted in 117 blocks, out of total 150, being categorised as overexploited.”
• Dr Mandeep Singh, Associate Director (Training.), KVK, Kheri, said that all the agricultural blocks of Sangrur district fall in the dark zone
• The Associate Director called upon the farmers to switch over to short and medium duration paddy varieties which take 123 days to 140 days for maturing, like PR 131, PR 129, PR 128, rather than cultivating long duration water guzzling paddy varieties, which take 160 days to 170 days to mature
• Dr Ajmer Singh Brar, Director, CWTM, cautioned the farmers not to grow summer maize in order to save groundwater

Speaking on the situation of groundwater in Punjab, Dr Vashisht said, “We are over drafting the groundwater by 164.11 per cent which resulted in 117 blocks, out of total 150, being categorised as overexploited.” He also discussed the history of World Water Day which was firstly discussed in United Nations in the year 1992 and celebrated for the first time in the year 1993.

Dr Ajmer Singh Dhatt, Director of Research, PAU, Ludhiana, said that indiscriminate use of water resources could lead to implications on environment and agriculture. He said, “Our generation has seen the journey of depth of water table from few ft to 150-200 ft.”

He also added that paddy cultivation has significantly led to underground water depletion and suggested the farmers to adopt PAU-recommended paddy varieties along with alternate wetting and drying method of irrigation in rice to save the underground water.

Dr Surinder Singh Kukkal, Member, PWRDA, stated that water table was depleting at an average rate of 2 ft to 2.5 ft per year. He further explained about the pollution of water reserves in urban as well as rural areas due to dumping of sewerage and industrial wastes and shared the strategies for generating more awareness for water saving practices at household, panchayat and school level.

Dr Mandeep Singh, Associate Director (Training.), KVK, Kheri, said that all the agricultural blocks of Sangrur district fall in the dark zone. He called upon the farmers to switch over to short and medium duration paddy varieties which take 123 days to 140 days for maturing, like PR 131, PR 129, PR 128, rather than cultivating long duration water guzzling paddy varieties, which take 160 days to 170 days for maturity, in order to protect the underground water table.

Dr Ajmer Singh Brar, Director, CWTM, PAU, cautioned the farmers not to grow summer maize in order to save underground water.

Harwinder Singh Bhadalwad, Bal Krishan Bhulan, Nirmal Singh Longowal, Kuldeep Sharma Banarsi and Karamjit Kaur Pedhni Kalan were honoured by the KVK for indulging in water saving practices in agriculture.

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