Latest agri tech to be shared with growers at 'Kisan Milni'

Tribune News Service

Ruchika M Khanna

Chandigarh, February 10

Latest technologies in the agriculture sector, be it the use of drones for spraying pesticides and fertilisers or benefits of using nano-DAP, will be shared with farmers from across Punjab as they converge on Ludhiana for the first-ever “Kisan Milni” on Sunday.

Will save time and labour

• Farming community will get first-hand information on spraying of chemicals on farmland by using drones, which will save time and labour
• On offer for them will also be a kiosk to brief them about subsidies offered under central and state schemes

With the Centre approving the commercial release of nano-DAP as a substitute for the more expensive DAP, this will be a big game changer in farmer economics once these become commercially available to farmers. The cost of nano-DAP bottles being half of that of a bag of the DAP, the government’s fertiliser subsidy bill will also go down, it is learnt.

The farmers will also get first-hand information on spraying of chemicals on farmland by using drones, which will save time and labour. “The “Kisan Milni” will help the farmers get a sneak peek at the latest technologies on offer. A training centre for the use of drones, being set up at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), will also be discussed so that young farmers can seek training and start using drones,” said Agriculture Minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal.

Director (Agriculture) Gurvinder Singh said these latest technologies would also be showcased in detail during the Kisan Mela at PAU to be held next month for a wider audience. Farmers will also learn about the availability of cheaper agriculture implements and machinery, which can be purchased by small and marginal farmers, who constitute 19 per cent of the total farmers in the state.

On offer for the farmers will also be a kiosk to brief them about subsidies offered under various central and state schemes for agriculture. The idea, says the Director (Agriculture), is to ensure that farmers know about the latest developments and start adopting these to better their farm income.

The main idea behind holding the “Kisan Milni”, however, is to get a feedback from farmers regarding the problems they face in agriculture and the practical solutions they would like the government to implement. “The farmers will be told about the traditional crops grown in different areas of the state and if these can once again be grown there. This will help us bring out a practical and implementable agriculture policy,” said Dhaliwal.

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