Shift to organic farming inevitable, says expert

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 8

A three-day training programme on “Organic farming – farm to fork approach” concluded at the PAMETI, PAU, Ludhiana.The training course was attended by 33 extension officials from the agriculture and allied departments.

Dr HS Dhaliwal, Director, PAMETI informed the officials about objectives of the training programme, detailing the need for adopting organic ways of cultivation and emphasised on new marketing strategies for organic produce.

He also briefed participants about road side display (RSD) model, an entrepreneurial model for self-marketing of organic and general farm produce.

Dr CS Aulakh, Director, School of Organic Farming, PAU stated the concept, principles and prospects of organic farming. He said the shift to organic farming in the state was inevitable and had picked up a lot of momentum lately. Dr Aulakh informed the participants about the standards and certification of organic farming. Dr Parminder Singh Shera, Assistant Entomologist, PAU, discussed the role of bio-control agents in the production of safe and chemical free foods.

Dr Poonam Sharma, Senior Microbiologist, Department of Plant Breeding and Genetics, PAU, stressed on the use of bio-fertilizers, especially in the case of organic farming.

Dr BVC Mahajan, Director, PHPTC, apprised the participants about the post-harvest management of fruits and vegetables. He emphasised on the need for post-harvest management to reduce food wastage and reap more profit.

Dr Harmeet Kaur, Deputy Director-Business Management, PAMETI, detailed the logistical picture of movement of food from farm to fork.

Bharti Madan, Deputy Director-IT, PAMETI, said the farmers could sell there produce anywhere in the country and e-marketing would help them in realising better profit margins.