GNDU organises workshop to educate tillers on vermicompost

Tribune News Service

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Amritsar, June 19

To educate progressive farmers about fresh methods of vermicomposting from cow dung, the Department of Botanical and Environment Sciences of Guru Nanak Dev University organised a workshop on ‘Dairy Farmers on Management of Cattle Dung’ under the aegis a project sanctioned by the Directorate of Environmental and Climate Change (DECC), Punjab. Department of Botanical and Environment Sciences Professor Saroj Arora shared insights with the participants, including members of NGOs, farmers from Amritsar and Ludhiana and research scholars from various universities.

Prof Keshav Singh, the resource-person from Deen Dayal Upadhaya University, Gorakhpur (UP), delivered an expert lecture on establishing vermicomposting units and highlighted the benefits of vermiwash in integrated farming practices to enhance the yield of crops and the farmers’ income. Manish from Mahavir, Phillour, a vermi-entrepreneur, shared his success story and encouraged farmers to establish their own vermicomposting units. He noted that a growing number of farmers in Punjab, Haryana and other states have joined him in generating a good income through vermicomposting.

Tarsem Singh, a dairy farmer, shared how he has been making a killing by selling organic vegetables and fruits cultivated using vermicompost.

Dr Rama from the Amritsar Municipal Corporation shared her views about the surging demand for organic vegetables and fruits, and exhorted tillers to adopt organic farming.

Amritsar Khalsa College Associate Professor Jaswinder Singh urged the cultivators to move towards organic farming to rid the environment of harmful chemicals. The participants visited the vermicompost unit in the botanical garden of the university and received hands-on training on vermicomposting.

Jaswinder Singh Bhatia from the Farmers’ Training Centre, Khalsa College, Amritsar, stressed the idea of ‘quality over quantity’. He elaborated on methods of vermicomposting.

Farmers making a killing

• Prof Keshav Singh, the resource-person from Deen Dayal Upadhaya University, Gorakhpur (UP), delivered an expert lecture on establishing vermicomposting units and highlighted the benefits of vermiwash in integrated farming practices to enhance the yield of crops and the farmers’ income
• Tarsem Singh, a dairy farmer, shared how he has been making a killing by selling organic vegetables and fruits cultivated using vermicompost