Farmer-scientist interaction drive launched

Under the initiative of Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan 2025, Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Central Institute of Post-Harvest Engineering and Technology (CIPHET) and Indian Institute of Maize Research (IIMR) have jointly launched a large-scale awareness and farmer-scientist interaction campaign across the state on Thursday.

As part of the initiative, 11 expert teams were deployed in various villages.

The teams are engaging directly with farmers, raising awareness on timely kharif sowing and promoting best management practices, including the use of high-yielding varieties/hybrids, balanced use of fertilisers and chemicals and improved post-harvest handling. Special focus is being laid on community-level and cooperative-based processing to enhance value addition and reduce losses.

The campaign also aims to educate farmers about various government schemes available to them and empowering them to increase productivity in a sustainable manner. In addition, the teams are identifying grass-roots innovations at the farm level and guiding farmers on validation, institutional support and scaling opportunities.

The campaign was formally flagged off by Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, Agriculture Minister, Punjab, at Fatehgarh Sahib. He urged farmers to take advantage of the initiative. The campaign is on till to June 12.