Agri Dept holds awareness campaign in Samrala block

As per the instructions of the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, an awareness campaign under ‘Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan for Kharif 2025’ was organised in Seh, Bagli Kalan and Mehdoodan Focal Points of Samrala block.

Block Agriculture Officer Dr Gaurav Dhir made the farmers aware about various schemes under the Crop Diversification Programme (Maize). “Under the scheme, financial assistance shall be provided to those farmers who grow kharif maize instead of paddy, thus saving groundwater. “The Punjab government has also announced a Rs 1,500 per acre assistance to the farmers opting for Direct Seeded Rice (DSR) technique,” said Dr Dhir. He also urged the farmers to stop the burning of paddy stubble to reduce air pollution and enhance soil health. He asked the farmers to take benefits under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme, Crop Residue Management Scheme, National Mission on Edible Oil (Oilseeds) Scheme, CDP (Gypsum) etc provided by the Punjab Government.

ADO, Samrala, Dr Sandeep Singh pleaded with the farmers to adopt the direct seeded rice (DSR) instead of the conventional method of sowing, as the only solution to the problem of fast receding groundwater level. Dr Amandeep Kaur, ADO (Soil Lab), elaborated upon the benefits of soil sampling and testing for recommendation of various essential nutrients and judicious use of fertilisers. Dr Priya from Dairy Development Department deliberated upon various schemes of the department. Dr Jagdeep Kaur, entomologist from KVK, Samrala, spoke about integrated pest management for controlling various insect pests in paddy and maize crop in kharif season.

Progressive farmers including Bahaal Singh and Jang Singh of Bagli Kalan, Amrik Singh of Mehdoodan, Rajwant Singh of Lal Kalan, Ranjit Singh of Madpur, Rupinder Singh of Tamkaudi, Gurdeep Singh, Jagtar Singh and Jaspreet Singh of village showed active participation and assured to adopt the latest technology to bring diversification and enhance crop yield in the long run. ASI Chamkaur Singh, ASI Tejinder Singh, ATM Kulwinder Singh and Pargat Singh Beldar from the Department of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, gave their support in the completion of the programme.