AGRICULTURE

Centre urged to raise duty on imported farm products
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 28
The Punjab government has impressed upon the Central government to impose maximum market duty on agricultural products imported from other countries. This was stated by Mr C.L. Bains, Financial Commissioner (Development), Punjab, while addressing a large number of gathering of farmers after inaugurating a kisan mela organised by Punjab Agricultural University at the regional centre today.

Mr Bains said that under the provision of WTO, 100 per cent duty could be imposed on raw agricultural products like wheat and rice and 150 per cent duty could be imposed on processed goods like sugarcane. The imposition of maximum possible duties had been advocated to safeguard the interest of Punjab farmers so that their farm produce could compete favourably in the national market.

Mr Bains cautioned that in view of the world changing scenario the emphasis will now have to be changed from quantity to quality and productivity by minimising the cost of production.

Dr Gurcharan Singh Kalkat, Vice-Chancellor, advised the farmers to shift atleast one-third area under paddy to alternative crops like maize, pulses, oilseeds, sugarcane, fruit trees and vegetables. The shift was necessary to conserve soil and water resources which had been greatly damaged due to continuous wheat-paddy rotation, he said.

Dr Kalkat said that being small holders, the farmers should also concentrate on meeting their family requirements from their farms by producing their own vegetables, fruits, pulses and oilseeds. The requirements for the poultry and dairy feed ingredients like maize and barley could also be met by the farmers through their own produce, he said. This will help in encouraging dairy and poultry enterprises, thereby lessening the dependence on chemical fertilisers by producing more organic manure.

Dr K.S. Aulakh, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, said that all efforts of scientists and farmers to increase food production would be neutralised by ever increasing population. He, therefore, called for effective measures for population control which had already reached one billion mark and every sixth person in the world was an Indian. The problem would be further aggravated because of increasing population and would require more land for housing, thereby decreasing the area under agriculture, he said.

Dr M.S. Bajwa, Director of Research, advocated precision farming which involved the use of appropriate inputs in accurate amount of doses at the right time. The blend application of inputs would increase cost of production and bring down the quality of farm produce which would not be acceptable in the international market, he said.

The Jaspinder Singh Kolar, Director of Extension Education, said that training in scientific technology was a pre-requisite for modern farming to face the challenges of WTO. He also advised the farmers to produce their own seed rather than purchasing low quality seed from private organisations at high prices.

Production of hybrid seed and nursery are potential avenues of employment for the rural youth, said Dr Kolar. He further advised farmers to make full use of the facilities for training in seed production, bee-keeping, dairy, poultry at the Krishi Vigyan Kendras of the university.

The kisan mela was attended by thousands of farmers in which field demonstrations, agro-industrial exhibitions, sale of farm literature and sale of improved seeds and nursery plants was organised.

A technical session was also held in which the university experts, Dr S.P. Mehra, Dr S.S. Ahuja, Dr Surjan Singh, Dr Rajwant Singh, Dr Mohinder Singh Gill, Dr Gurtej Singh Brar, Dr Ranjodhan Singh, and Dr Charanjit Kaur Heera answered various questions of the farmers pertaining to crop production, fertiliser use, dairy farming, fruit and vegetable production and home science.

Scientist honoured
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 28
Dr Sudesh Kumar Arora, a scientist from the Punjab Agricultural University, has been awarded Hans Raj Pahwa Award for the year 1998 for his outstanding contributions in vegetable breeding.

Dr Arora worked on the varietal improvement of okra, bottlegourd, Chinese cabbage and palak.

He was associated with the evolution of three okra varieties, Punjab Padmini, Punjab-7 and Punjab-8, Punjab komal of bottlegourd, Chinese sarson of Chinese cabbage and Punjab green palak.

Dr Arora has specifically bred new okra varieties for resistance against yellow vein mosaic, the most widespread disease.

The varieties inherited resistance from the wild species and are among the first resistant varieties.

Punjab-8 is the first yellow vein mosaic resistance variety developed through mutation breeding.

Rain brings cheer to wheat growers
Tribune Reporters

Ludhiana, March 28
The city and surrounding areas experienced a cool day today owing to cloudy conditions and a brief spell of rain in the afternoon. Lasting not more than 15 minutes, it was accompanied by thunder and hailstorm.

After two dry months, today’s showers brought relief to farmers as these helped in development of the grain. Dr S.S. Hundal, Head of the Department of Agrometeorology, said the rain would help increase the yield of the wheat crop.

It last rained on January 1. He added that farmers seemed unhappy as they feared that the wheat grains might shrivel due to the dry weather. He predicted that light scattered showers would occur in various parts of Punjab in the next 24 hours.

FMD vaccination
Our Correspondent

Machhiwara, March 28
To protect animals from foot-and-mouth disease in Samrala tehsil, vaccination work is going on speedily and 30,400 animals have been vaccinated. This was stated by Dr Amarjit Singh Machhiwara, senior veterinary officer, here today.

He said 10 teams had been set up for the purpose. Every team was being headed by a veterinary officer. The headquarters of these teams were at Machhiwara, Burj Powat, Sihala, Nagara, Hedon and Ghungrali Sikhan.

He added that no case of FMD had been found in the subdivision, when a special team of the department from state veterinary laboratory in Jalandhar visited on March 25. He also disclosed that cattle fairs in the district had been banned by the District Magistrate. The cattle fair supposed to be held at Neelon village today was cancelled.

EDUCATION

Seminar on modern teaching ways
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 28
A five-day seminar-cum-workshop on modern teaching methods and attitude to cope up with the growing expectations of the new generation and their parents began at BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, here today.

Mr Mukhinder Singh, trainer, Ways and Means Inc., there was a need to use modern play-way methods for teaching purposes. He suggested that audio-visual aids must be used so that the students retain more and are clear about the concepts. Addressing the teachers, Mr Sarabjit Singh, another trainer, said teachers should create such atmosphere in the class-room so that the students feel free to ask of questions.

NIIT centre
Our Correspondent

Machhiwara, March 28
A branch of NIIT Computer Education, was inaugurated by Mr Anil Sood, president of the local nagar panchayat, near Miri Piri School here yesterday.

In his brief address, Mr Sood expressed gratitude to the NIIT for launching its new centre, in this small town.

COURTS

Forum quashes PSEB demand of Rs 10,305
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, March 28
The District Consumer Disputes and Redressal Forum has quashed the demand of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) of Rs 10,305 from Ms Sunita Goyal, a resident of Upkar Nagar. The forum further directed the board to refund the amount deposited against the said demand along with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum.

According to the complaint, the electricity meter of the complainant became dead in November, 1998, but the board officials continued to send the bills on average basis of about Rs 1000 every time. The complainant stated before the forum that the board officials had changed the meter in October, 1999, and had taken away the meter with the sealing and packing. The complainant alleged that the board officials did not even inform her to be present at the time of checking the meter in the laboratory.

Ms Sunita Goyal stated that the board demanded Rs 10,305 on the ground that they found a hole in the body of the meter after checking the meter in the laboratory. She was allegedly threatened that if she did not deposit the amount, her electricity connection would be disconnected. She deposited 50 per cent of the amount and the matter was referred to the Dispute Settlement Committee. The complainant reportedly withdrew the case from the committee since she felt that no justice would be given to her by the committee. After that she had deposited the balance amount also.

The board pleaded that the disputed demand was rightly raised as they found a hole in the meter while checking in the laboratory and the complainant used to stop the operation of the electric meter by foul means. The respondent stated that it was a case of theft of energy since there were signs of scratches on the body of the electric meter.

The forum observed that there was no mention of the complainants’ presence at the time of checking the meter in the laboratory and the meter was not properly sealed and packed at the after removing the meter, which was mandatory. The forum held that since the board had complied with the rules the disputed demand was liable to be quashed.