By Tricitynews
Chandigarh 03rd
July:- Traditional Practices with Modern
Innovations can lead to Sustainability in Agriculture, opined Ajay
Vir Jakhar, Chairman, Punjab State Farmers’ & Farm Workers’
Commission while addressing the Culmination Ceremony of the 2nd edition
of Innovative Farmers’ Meet, here today at Chandigarh. He added that the
Confederation should conduct research as to what extent the industry is
polluting the water bodies and offer viable solutions to the same. On the other
hand, farmers should engage with CII to establish linkages with the industry
for a mutually beneficial regime. Ajay
Vir Jakhar said that his Commission would request CII to intervene into
budget discussions pertaining to agriculture and work upon removing the trust
deficit among its various stakeholders.
While sharing his thoughts, Dr Balwinder Singh Sidhu, Commissioner–Agriculture,
Government of Punjab said that Technology and Innovations can only function if
there is sufficient water to irrigate our fields. Dr. B S Sidhu congratulated
CII on initiating a grass root level intervention that aimed to achieve quality
produce and empower the cultivators. He added that maintaining the quality and
quantity of water is a social responsibility and a national concern.
Subhash
Chander Katyal, Chairman, Haryana State
Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation Limited (HAFED) also graced the
occasion and appreciated CII for devising a practical approach to counter
farmers’ problems. Subhash Chander Katyal shared that water conservation is a
top priority in the state of Haryana. He added that Organic Farming should be
encouraged to mitigate various agricultural issues as the excessive use of
chemical fertilizers in the crop fields are leading to many fatal diseases such
as heart cancer and heart failures. . Subhash Chander Katyal also insisted that
the youth and young children should be encouraged to learn agricultural
practices as against their contemporary inclination to white collar jobs.
Dr
Gurbachan Singh, Founder, Dr Gurbachan Singh
Foundation also addressed the gathering and shared his knowledge and experience
about best practices in farming. He said that there is a growing need of
conserving water by adopting requisite changes. He mentioned that Crop diversification,
introduction of legumes, integrated farming, building of ecological zones in
the fields, etc. to replenish the soil quality can work wonders for the
farmers. Issues like distressed sale of produce, residue burning, weather
change & global warming should also be addressed with caution.
Harish Chavan, Chairman, CII Punjab State Council
and CEO, Mahindra & Mahindra (Swaraj Division) welcomed the distinguished
dignitaries from the government, industry and especially the agrarians on
behalf of CII who took out time to participate in the deliberations. He
reiterated that the primary goal behind holding such interactions is the
welfare of the farmers, propelling industrial growth and boosting GDP of the
nation. Harish Chavan also opined that technology is extremely crucial in the
agricultural sector, but now the focus has shifted on sustainability and
dealing with water crisis is the need of the hour.
Dr
Rajesh Kapoor, Director, CII walked through
the entire series and shared the reminiscences of the Farmers’ Meet at
different locations. He elaborated that 9 sessions and the final culmination
ceremony were organized in the second edition of this initiative where more
than 5000 farmers participated and 20 plus corporate organizations supported
the cause. Free stalls were provided to more than 20 FPOs and the proceedings
were attended by 50 plus government officials including Yogi Adityanath, Chief
Minister, Uttar Pradesh.
The Culmination Ceremony ended with
felicitation of the Progressive Farmers who are setting examples for the others
with their innovative ideas. The attendees also indulged into a Q & A round
where they approached the panelists with their doubts requested for their
guidance.
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