Bhagwant Mann honours progressive farmers at PAU fair

Tribune News Service

Manav Mander

Ludhiana, September 15

Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann presided over the concluding ceremony of the Kisan Mela here today.

“Agriculture has been the honour, pride and glory of Punjab while Punjab Agricultural University and its Kisan Melas have been dear to the state farmers. Farming is very close to my heart and I have been coming to these fairs with my uncle as an artist,” said the Chief Minister.

Felicitated growers

• The Chief Minister also honoured five progressive farmers for their significant contributions to agriculture and allied occupations.
• Paramjit Singh of Bukan Wekhey Nagar village in Faridkot district was awarded the Parvasi Bharti Award
• Sardar Amrit Singh of Dhaneta village in Patiala district was conferred the Sardar Ujjagar Singh Dhaliwal Memorial Award.
• Narinder Singh Tiwana of Ditupur village of Nabha tehsil in Patiala district was given the Sardar Dalip Singh Dhaliwal Memorial Award
• Sardar Sukhpal Singh of Mauje Khurd village in Mansa district received the Sardar Surjit Singh Dhillon Award.
• Gurbir Kaur of Jhandewala village in Moga district received the Sardarni Jagbir Kaur Memorial Award.

He said that he was elated to see the keen participation of young farmers in the fair. “Our ancestors had toiled very hard to make this land productive, but agriculture in the present times is undergoing a drastic change. There is a need to update our agricultural practices and stay abreast with the evolving scientific techniques,” he added.

In his welcome address, Vice-Chancellor Dr Satbir Singh Gosal said that PAU had achieved great milestones and served the farming community during 60 years of its existence.

He said, “Despite the fact that Punjab makes for only 1.5 per cent of India’s geographical area, it contributed 51 per cent of wheat to the central pool in 2022.”

Talking about the problems of water depletion and climate change, Dr Gosal called for the support of the World Bank to tackle emerging problems in the agriculture sector.

Contest winners

Winners of various competitions held on the first day of the fair were also awarded today. In the category of vegetables in the crop produce competition, Bhupinder Kaur of Faridkot, Jicky Singh of Faridkot, Balwinder Singh of Mansa, Jaspal Singh of Bathinda and Gurprakar Singh of Gurdaspur bagged the first prizes for garlic, bottle gourd, ghiya kaddu, ram tori and chilli, respectively.

Surinderpal Kaur Sangrur, Sukhvir Singh of Mansa, Jaspreet Singh of Ludhiana, Harshpreet Singh of Patiala, Paramjit Singh of Kapurthala, Tirath Singh of Fazilka and Jatinder Singh of Gurdaspur got the first prizes for brinjal, guar phali, cucumber, jhar karela, bitter gourd, okra and onion, respectively.

Besides, Sukhdev Singh of Kapurthala, Ravikant of Fazilka and Rajendra Singh of Kapurthala received the first prizes for lobia, cotton and sugarcane, respectively.

In the category of fruits, Satnam Singh of Barnala and Balwinder Singh of Sangrur won the first and second prizes for dragon fruit, respectively.

Malkit Singh of Fazilka was awarded the first prize for mitha. Gagandeep Singh and Jayant Singh of Fazilka clinched the first and second prizes for malta, respectively. Sukhdev Singh of Bathinda and Amitoj Singh of Kapurthala won the first prizes for chakotar and baramasi lemon, respectively.

The Department of Soil Science bagged the first prize in field demonstrations while it was followed by the Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering.

The Farm Advisory Service Centre (FASC), Hoshiarpur, and the FASC, Bathinda, clinched the top positions for the Punjab Naujawan Kisan Sanstha.

Sardar Gurvinder Singh of Baroke village in Mansa district received the first prize for millets production while Ranjit Kaur of Ludhiana won the award for her Self-Help Group.

In the category of farm machinery and implements, International Tractors Limited bagged the first prize for tractors and combines while the Land Force won the first prize for tractor driven implements.

The VAR Hand Tools clinched the first prize for electric motors, engines and pumping sets while National Fertilizer Limited got the first prize for fertilizers.

Bayer Crop Sciences Limited received the first prize for pesticides, whereas the KC Marketing Company was awarded the first prize for agro-processing machinery.

Rain again lashed the area on the second day after the CM left the venue. Farmers were seen running to take shelter while many stalls were closed after it started raining. Ludhiana received 8 mm of rain on Friday.

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