Farmers exhorted to adopt in-situ residue mgmt methods
Jalandhar, October 5
The Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Kapurthala, on Thursday organised a district-level camp to raise awareness on in-situ crop residue management on the campus under the aegis of Directorate of Extension Education, PAU, Ludhiana, and ICAR ATARI Zone-I, Ludhiana.
Over 150 men and women farmers took part in the programme. This time the KVK introduced a novel idea in which they chose a chief guest from the farming community. The camp was attended by KVK farmers who are already technologically equipped through PAU techniques.
Dr Harinder Singh, Associate Director (Training), greeted the farmers and encouraged them to apply the in-situ residue management methods at the outset.
He said due to continuous changes in agricultural environmental conditions along with farmers’ economic condition, experts must have a close rapport with farmers and sit with fellow farmers to apply scientific knowledge for the desired outputs.
Dr Ashok Kumar, Assistant Professor (Soil Science), sensitized the farmers to the role of bio-fertilizer and crop residues in augmenting soil health. He stressed on the in-situ incorporation of paddy straw so that nutrients, particularly N, P, K and S present in paddy straw, may be utilised by the next season crops.
Progressive farmers including S. Dalbir Singh, S. Kuldeep Singh Sangra and S. Sital Singh shared their experiences on use of Happy Seeder and Super Seeder for in-situ paddy straw management. Dr. Amandeep Kaur, Assoc. Prof. enlightened on cultivation of vegetables in residue managed fields.
Progressive vegetable growers — Iccha Singh, Tarlochan Singh, Jarnail Singh and Mukhtiar Singh — discussed management of paddy straw by using mulcher and reversible plough for cultivation of potato, carrot and cauliflower.
Iccha Singh described how he used paddy straw in his crops to save one bag of urea and one bag of potash per acre.
Dr Bindu, Associate Professor (Agricultural Engg), highlighted the importance of custom hiring centres for CRM. The benefits of sowing wheat with smart seeder and surface seeding methods while retaining the paddy straw on the surface was elaborated by progressive farmers — Nirmal Singh, Sarwan Singh, Mohanjit Singh and Sukhwinder Singh.
Dr Suman Kumari, Assistant Professor, delivered a lecture on rodent control and management of pink stem borer in residue managed fields.
Sarwan Singh Chandi laid stress on adopting subsidiary occupation like bee-keeping and mushroom cultivation to get extra income on a daily basis.
Officials from various departments explained about various schemes and subsidies related to agriculture and allied fields. Sulakhan Singh, a progressive farmer of Kapurthala district, was the chief guest on the occasion. He shared his experience regarding improvement in soil health by incorporating crop residues into the soil. In the end, Dr Amit Salaria, Assistant Professor (Agronomics), delivered a lecture on the management of Phalaris minor in residue retained fields.
