Farmers have a ‘field day’
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, March 12
Contract farming has evoked a good response from farmers of the district, with farmers sowing sunflower in 3,100 acres, hyola mustard in 1,480 acres, winter maize in 380 acres and spring maize in 165 acres.

As part of the diversification programme initiated by the district administration, the Agriculture Department and the Punjab Agro Food Corporation organised a field tour for farmers today. Mr Sumer Singh Gurjar, ADC (Development), took members to various villages where farmers had entered into a contract with the corporation and had opted for cash crops, breaking out of the wheat-paddy monoculture. Mr R.S. Pandher, District Agriculture Officer, and Mr N.K. Sharma, Regional Manager of Punjab Agro, also accompanied the team.

The farmers were shown farms of Mr Piara Singh of Dhatt village who has sown hyola mustard in 20 acres, Mr Manjit Singh who has sown winter maize in 12 acres and Master Bakshish Singh who has sown of grams in 20 acres.

Mr Gurjar aim pressed upon the members to diversify in a big way since this was the only option left for farmers to make agriculture viable and deal with the falling water- table. He said the country had excess wheat stocks which were rotting and the production of more wheat would only harm the farmers, especially after the WTO regime was in place. He said contract farming was the need of the hour since the farmers would be assured of a good and a fixed return.

Mr Pandher pointed out that opting for cash crops would also ensure better fertility for fields, besides savings in terms of fertilisers and water and also a healthy environment.

Mr Sharma informed the farmers that during the current season, the corporation had decided to sow maize in 10,000 acres, besides basmati and assorted pulses in 6,000 acres which would be bought back from the farmers under the process mutually agreed upon now.

A large number of field staff members of the departments also accompanied the team.

PAU students to be sent to US varsity
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 12
Undergraduate students from the College of Agricultural Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, will be sent to San Jose State University, California, for further studies and research programmes.

A meeting to devise proper schemes for the purpose was organised by the Alumni Association of the college, with Mr Jessie Singh, an alumnus and now a proprietor of a computer-based company in the Silicon Valley, USA, Dr Sigurd Meldal, Professor in the Department of Computer Engineering, and Dr Mark Novak, Associate Vice-President of International and Extended Studies, San Jose State University.

The US faculty met Dr H.S. Sekhon, Dean of the College of Agricultural Engineering, students of B.Tech as well as the faculty and answered their queries in this regard. The students were told that they must clear the GRE test to meet eligibility conditions. They were told that they could continue some equivalent courses in the USA. The students were suggested to go through the university website for more details.

Last year, Dr Aulakh had signed a tie-up with San Jose State University for sending students and research scholars overseas for higher studies in areas such as business management, computer engineering and management of information systems. He had also tied up with Ohio State University under which three scientists from the university would go for training programmes in meat technology, maize and pulses breeding. 

Astha adjudged best dancer
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 12
Ectopia 03, the three-day cultural bonanza of undergraduate medical students of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital entered into its second day with all five batches facing tough competitions from each other. Till this afternoon, ‘batch 2000’ was ahead of all other batches by scoring 68 points. ‘batch 1999’ and ‘batch 2002’ were second in the lead by scoring 58 points each.

However, ‘batch 1998’ (45 score) was facing a tough competition from ‘batch 2001’ (43 score). The batch that will score the maximum points on the basis of their overall performance will be declared the winners on the concluding day of the event.

The evening was made memorable yesterday by the impressive performances given by the medical students during the dance contest. From Western to Indian, the show was a spectrum of various hues. Astha (batch 2000) was declared first for her excellent performance on a song, ‘Dola re dola’ , Ruchi of ‘batch 1999’ and Bhawna (batch 2000) were declared second. Nivedita of ‘batch 2001’ was adjudged third.

Among boys, Amandeep of ‘batch 2002 stood first, Sachin (batch 2001) was second and Jaspreet (batch 2000) was third. Dr Suman Puri, Dr Vandana Midha and Dr Deepinder Chhina were the judges.

In the mono acting competition, Harpreet Bains of ‘batch 1999’ was declared first for performing on the life of medical students. However, Amandeep of ‘batch 2001’ stood second and Rao Rajeshwar of batch 1998 was declared first for the touching performance on Kashmir problem. Dr Arvind Goyal, Dr Ashwini Chowdhary and Dr GPI Singh were the judges.

In the extempore competition held this morning, Mukul of ‘batch 2002’ bagged the first prize and Harsimran was declared second. A debate was also organised on the topic 'Family life is more important than career’, in which Anu Singla won the first position and Ashmit Bhatia remained second. The third prize was shared by Jagmeet Dhingra (batch1998) and Rishi (batch 2001). Team prize was won by Aarti and Mukul of ‘batch 2002’. Dr Sandeep Puri. Dr Gautam Ahluwalia and Dr Atul Mishra were the judges for the debate and extempore contest.

In on-the-spot painting competition, Navneet Bal of ‘batch 1998’ was declared first and Pushpinder of ‘batch 1999’ and Navdeep Sangha remained second. Bhavna and Shimpi of ‘batch 2000’ shared the third position. Dr M.L. Gupta, Dr Manisha Gupta and Dr Praveen Sobti were the judges.