Govt approval to buy land for horticulture institute

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 21

Finally, the state government gave approval to purchase land for the Post Graduate Institute of Horticulture Research and Education (PGIHRE) in Amritsar on March 20. This PGIHRE complex will be constructed at Chhiddan village located on the main Amritsar-Attari road.

The approval under Section 19 of the Land Acquisition Act will enable and authorise the state government to pay the price of a chunk of land measuring 29 acres 5 kanals and 5 marlas to the owners of the land, which was required for the construction of administrative, academic and residential blocks of PGIHRE.

It is expected that more than 100 horticulture scientists will carry on the researches, thus paving the way for diversification of crops which is much-sought and dire need of the hour. Innovative techniques of irrigation like drip irrigation and spray irrigation will certainly be instrumental in raising of the underground water level. The farming community of Punjab, especially of Amritsar, is expected to be benefited from the researches and innovations of the institute.

Kulwant Singh Ankhi, a local activist, welcomed the move and said the industrial units related to horticulture are expected to be set up in the area, thus brightening the economic fortune of the local start-ups. “Presently the daily use of millets is very much preached and promoted for the better health. So to meet the millets needs of the consumers, the researches of the PGIHRE will be valuable,” he said.

Even seven years after the announcement of the PGIHRE, the state government had failed to acquire land for it.