STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: To sensitise the farmer and common masses about the benefits of natural farming, a workshop on ‘Natural Farming’ was organised on the fourth day of Krishi Mela 2022 of SKUAST Jammu.
Dr. Vikas Sharma, Convener of the workshop welcomed the guest and elaborated about the activities being undertaken by organic farming research centre, SKUAST Jammu.
Anuradha Gupta, Deputy Commissioner Samba, Chief Guest of the function, informed the house about the initiative taken by Government of India and Government of Jammu and Kashmir in the field of organic and natural farming so that more and more farmers get attracted towards this type of farming.
She sought cooperation of university in laying out clusters of organic farming.
She also informed that district Samba is designated as aspirational district by the Government of India for the promotion of organic farming.
Dr. Rakesh Chouhan, Scientist CSK HPKVV, Palampur discussed about Subash Palekar’s natural farming and preparation of organic formulations like Jeevamrit and Beejamrit.
Dr. Pardeep Kumar, Principal Scientist, CSK HPKVV Palampur discussed about the non-judicious use of chemical fertilizers and the potential of organic manures for their replacement.
A workshop on ‘Diversification in Agriculture’ was also organized.
Sham Lal Sharma, Ex-Minister, was the Chief Guest while Dr. M.C. Sharma, former Vice Chancellor and Director IVRI, Bareilly was the Guest of Honor.
Dr. Anil Bhat delivered a lecture on the topic Heritage Farming-Documentation and Upscaling of Indigenous Knowledge System on Scientific Lines. Dr Ashok Gupta provided a holistic view of integrated farming system model development by SKUAST Jammu for enhancing the farmers income.
At the outset, Prof. Vikram Singh, Dean, Faculty of Agriculture welcomed the dignitaries and gave an overall view of the workshop.
In the programme Dr. Manoj Jha, Director, Central Sanskrit University appreciated the stalls in the Mela which provided an amalgamation of modern and Vedic cultural diversity of agriculture system of India.
Prof. J.P Sharma, Vice-chancellor SKUAST Jammu highlighted the achievements of University like sanction of three new faculties as well as three new Krishi Vigyaan Kendra under the administration of SKUAST Jammu. He also said that UT of J&K is at third position in farmers income from agriculture as per the NITI Aayog report.
Chief Guest, Sham Lal Sharma appreciated SKUAST Jammu under the leadership of Prof. J. P. Sharma for achieving significant development in short duration.
He also said that India wants to become Vishwa Guru in the knowledge sphere and not the super power in military sense. This can be achieved through a self reliant India.
Dr. S. K. Gupta, Director Extension, SKUAST-Jammu presented vote of thanks. The proceeding of the workshop was conducted by Dr. Vivek M Arya.
Exhibition on application of drone technology in agriculture which is promoted by KVK, Jammu under the supervision of Dr. Puneet Choudhary also catched interests of large number of farmers. Cultural programme was also organized in which the performance of artists of India Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR), Jammu and students of SKUAST-Jammu mesmerized the audience. Prof. Bechan Lal, VC Cluster University, Jammu was Chief Guest in the cultural programme.
Krishi Mela is also telecasted virtually at www.skuast.org and more than 40000 are viewing it on daily basis. Besides, large number of farmers, school children and university students enthusiastically participated in rural sports viz., kabbadi, tug of war, volleyball, short put etc. in which the winners were awarded.