The department of Farm Machinery & Power Engineering, PAU, Ludhiana, organized farm day on “Machinery for paddy cultivation and safety”, today at the departmental farm, near Gate No. 4, PAU, Ludhiana. Dr Navtej Singh Bains, Director Research, PAU was the Chief Guest at the event that was attended by agricultural experts and scientists of the university and Krishi Vigyan Kendras across the state. There was a large gathering of farmers who were seen watching various demonstrations put up as a part of the programme. Dr Jaskaran Singh Mahal, Dr Jaskaran Singh Mahal assured the farmers of constant support by way of exhibits depicting new research activities undertaken by the university and thanked them for their faith in the university recommendations.
Dr Mahesh Narang welcomed the guests and informed that PAU has taken a pioneering step towards directly in popularizing the machine assisted paddy transplantation among farmers. Dr Amrit Pal Singh Brar, while highlighting the technical aspects of machine assisted paddy transplantation, said that these machines were a great saviour in the wake of the ongoing labour shortage in the state.
Dr Rupinder Singh Gill sensitized the farmers on the correct use of fertilizer in paddy cultivation. Dr Gursahib Singh divulged the need and techniques for correct management of wheat residue. Various safety measures and precautions while operating this machinery were discussed by Dr Naresh Juneja. At occasion, Dr Manjeet Singh, Head, Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering informed that the motive of the program is to educate & acquaint the farmers, farm machinery manufacturers, field officers, extension engineers and other field staff regarding latest machinery for paddy cultivation and management of crop residues.
There was live demonstration of various machines for paddy transplanting including direct seeding of rice, display of straw management machinery, safety features and gadgets etc. Dr Manjit Singh further informed that custom hiring of paddy transplanter has a potential to become viable option for entrepreneurship development, besides, farmers already using transplanters have reaped benefit of Rs.800-1000/- per acre as compared to the manual transplantation of paddy along with other benefits like timely transplanting and subsequent higher yield.
Source: http://web.pau.edu/
