Palampur agri varsity trains defence personnel in protected cultivation
A total of 39 officers from all three wings of the Indian Defence Services, belonging to JCOs and equivalent ranks, have enrolled in the course
Ashok Kumar Panda, Vice-Chancellor of Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishva Vidyalaya, Palampur, inaugurated a certificate course on ‘Protected Cultivation and Value Addition of Vegetable and Horticultural Crops’ for JCOs and equivalent ranks of the Indian Defence Services on the campus here on Monday.
The Directorate of Extension Education is organising the programme. A total of 39 officers from all three wings of the Indian Defence Services, belonging to JCOs and equivalent ranks, have enrolled in the course. This is the fifth course in the series being conducted by the university for defence personnel to be conducted from February 9 to May 29. Lt Col Angad Behl, Joint Director, Directorate of Resettlement, North Zone, joined the inaugural function virtually as the guest of honour.
In his inaugural address, Panda expressed concern over the increasing incidence of lifestyle-related diseases such as heart ailments, diabetes and other metabolic disorders in Himachal Pradesh. He emphasised that the indiscriminate use of chemicals in agriculture was adversely affecting soil health, environment and human health and stressed the urgent need to promote healthy, safe and nutritious food for the masses through sustainable and natural farming practices.
The Vice-Chancellor said that the personnel of the Indian Armed Forces were highly disciplined and committed and encouraged them to adopt agriculture and allied sectors as self-employment ventures after retirement. He also urged them to act as agents of change by educating farmers in their native regions about scientific farming practices.
Lt Col Angad Behl thanked the university for providing such an opportunity to defence personnel to choose agriculture as a profession after retirement. Vinod Sharma, Director of Extension Education of the University, briefed the gathering about the objectives of the programme and extended a warm welcome to all. Lav Bhushan, training in-charge, presented an overview of the course and thanked the Directorate General of Resettlement for sponsoring these training programmes at the university.
