AGRICULTURE

Project Sahayog launched to save farm soil
Manoj Kumar
Tribune News Service

Burundi (Ludhiana), June 13
The farmers of Punjab will have to leave the practice of wheat and paddy straw burning if they want to save the quality of the soil of their agriculture land. The average share of organic matter in the upper layer of agriculture land in Punjab is just 0.3 per cent against 3 per cent organic matter in China. It has drastically come down during the past many years because of wheat-paddy rotation and burning of straw in the fields.

These views were expressed by Prof K.S. Aulakh, Vice Chancellor, Punjab Agriculture University (PAU). He was addressing the farmers here today after inaugurating the project ‘ Sahayog.’ The project has been launched by the Syngenta, a weedicide and pesticide manufacturing company, to create awareness among the farmers against the straw burning and to use green manure produced in the farms after the cutting of wheat and paddy crops.

While appreciating the efforts of the company and farmers, Professor Aulakh said,‘‘ The farmers should emphasise on quality improvement and cost cutting to compete in the post-GATT period. They should produce green manure in the fields for at least five to seven years to get required benefits as the benefits of wheat and rice straw incorporation in soil will be visible only in the long term. The practice will increase the fertility of soil and avoid the air pollution in the state.’’

Earlier Professor Aulakh and Dr Kular, Director, Extension, PAU, visited the farms in the village and listened to the views of the farmers.

The farmers told them the practice of green manuring was not economically useful in the long term as only about 26 per cent investment could be recovered in the short term. There was no major difference in the yields though the consumption of nitrogen was marginally decreased. Professor Aulakh argued that new practices would save the depleting water table as the farmers had to delay the sowing of paddy under this project.

Dr R.N.Sandhikar, regional manager of the company, said that 10 farmers around Ahmadgarh had been selected to develop demonstration farms. These farms would include all good practices including incorporation of paddy and wheat straw, green manuring, reducing the fertiliser usage by increasing the fertility of soil. The villages include Burundi, Rasheen, Meherana Kalan, Meherana Khurd, Siharm Ghudani Kalan, Jartoli, Asi Kalan and Gurum.

While speaking on this occasion, Dr S.S. Malhi, projector coordinator, said,‘‘ The company has selected these farms to demonstrate that the farmers can increase their income by following the recommendations of PAU experts and by using quality inputs especially the pesticides. Even the simple recommendation of sowing 33 plants of paddy per square metre instead of 20 plants sown by the labour, the farmers can increase the yield by about 20 per cent.’’

Professor Aulakh asked the farmers to avoid extravagant expenditure on tractors and other luxury goods. He asserted,‘‘ The jat farmers will have to learn the economics of agriculture to survive in the changing times.’’ Regarding the WTO impact on Punjab Agriculture, he said,‘‘ There is nothing to fear from the foreign competition if we take care of quality of our produce and their costs.’’

Dr Maninder Hundal, in charge of the project, pointed out the company was committed to the welfare of the farmers and their business. He said,‘‘ The company has distributed mustard seeds to the farmers for cultivating with wheat in 2 lakh acre. It resulted in extra income of Rs 700 per acre to the farmers worth Rs 14 crore production of mustard.’’

About 200 farmers of the nearby villages attended the function. KRIBHCO and Mahindra tractors also held stalls of their products.

EDUCATION

They brought honours to dist
Deepkamal Kaur

Ludhiana, June 13
With a Jagraon student bagging first position in the state and 62 students securing merit positions in Class VIII examination conducted by the Punjab School Education Board, the students from the district seem to have put in their best performance this year.

The top three students of the district are Sanchit Ankur Garg from Sanmati Vimal Jain Senior Secondary Public School, Jagraon, with 593 marks out of 600, Ginni Kareer from Saraswati Modern School, Rajpura Road, with 575 marks and Manoj Kumar from R.S. Model Senior Secondary School with 573 marks.

Of the 62 merit position holders from the district, just two students hail from government schools. These include Jaspreet Kaur from Government High School, Phalewal, with 558 marks and Ramandeep Kaur from Government High School, Sunet. Among the private students, Raj Narayan has secured first position with 565 marks and Parampreet Kaur stands second with 549 marks.

Other regular students in the merit list include Prabhjot Kaur from Dashmesh Public High School, Mehdiana Sahib (566 marks), Kanika Sharma from Arya Senior Secondary School (565), Saurabh Goel from BVM Senior Secondary School (563), Lalit Madaan from Atam Public Senior Secondary School (563), Rohit Ahuja from Rajindra Model School, Haibowal Kalan (562), Anu Gupta from Sanmati Vimal Jain Senior Secondary Public School (561), Ritu Makkar again from the same school (561), Pritpal Kaur from Senior National High School (561), Vanita from Nauhria Mal Jain Girls’ School (561) and 47 others. It may be mentioned that the cut off percentage in the merit list by the board authorities was 549 marks (91.5 per cent).

Besides, Vipan Kumar bagged first position in BCM Senior Secondary School, Focal Point, with 560 marks, Ridhi topped in Jain Public High School with 559 marks, Neha secured first rank in Brahm Rishi Bawra Shishu Niketan, Madhopuri, with 558 marks, Shiv Kumar bagged first position in Shalimar Model High School, Guru Angad Colony, with same marks and Aashima secured first rank in SGG Senior Secondary School, Gondwal, with 555 marks. Securing same marks, Poonam Verma from Swami Roop Chand Jain Senior Secondary School, Jagraon, has bagged first rank in her school.

Several government school students failed to get through in the middle examination. Of the total 39 students, nine students failed and six got compartment in Government Middle School, Patti Sham Singh, Kaonke Kalan. Just six students from Government Middle School, Dholewal Chowk, could get through this year as four of them failed, five got compartments and examination of three students was cancelled. Four of the total 24 students from Government Middle School, Industrial Area, could pass as the remaining 10 students flunked and nine students got compartment.

Even some private school students could not perform well this year. Of the 165 students from Ramgarhia Co-Educational Middle School, 41 students failed and 39 students got compartments. Guneet Kaur topped from the school with 511 marks, thus, securing 85.16 per cent.

PAU criticised for change of designation
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 13
Dr Balwant Singh, Convener of the Kisan Cell of the Punjab Pradesh Nationalist Congress Party. has criticised Punjab Agricultural University for tailoring the qualifications of the professor of business to favour Dr S.K. Singla, professor of statistics.

In a press release issued here yesterday, Dr Balwant Singh said that at the meeting of the academic council of the university, the decision was taken with a view to making Dr Singla as the Head of the Department of Business Management. Stating the decision as “atrocious”, Dr Balwant Singh said Dr Singla held only a diploma in business management and was incompetent for teaching these subjects to the postgraduate classes.

He said it was not in accordance with the PAU rules and it was precisely for this reason that Dr Singla had not been allotted any MBA student during the current academic year. Alleging that it was the new Vice-Chancellor, Dr K.S. Aulakh, who facilitated the change of designation of Dr Singla by tailoring the qualification requirements in the meeting of the Academic Council, Dr Balwant Singh said Dr Aulakh allegedly prevailed upon the Academic Council to modify the model qualifications for the post of professor of business management.

Dr Balwant Singh further alleged that the Academic Council in two successive meetings held under the chairmanship of the former Vice-Chancellor, Dr G.S. Kalkat, on January 18 and February 28, had out rightly rejected a proposal moved by the Dean, Basic Sciences, to change the designation of Dr Singla. He said that even at the time of Dr Singla’s transfer to the Department Business Management about two years ago it was made abundantly clear that Dr Singla would continue to retain his seniority in his parent department in which discipline he held a doctorate.

COURTS

Guwahati HC stays ban on lotteries
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, June 13
The Guwahati High Court has stayed the ban imposed by the Punjab Government on the sale of the lottery tickets issued by the Nagaland Government. A circular has also been issued to the police to ensure that the stay order is implemented.

Following a ban imposed by the Punjab Government on the sale of lottery tickets of the Nagaland Government in the state, the Nagaland Government had moved the Guwahati High Court, against the ban. The ban was stayed by the court and the Director General of Police was asked to implement the stay orders.

Hundreds of lottery sellers in the state were being harassed by the police. The Nagaland Government is one of the leading states dealing in lotteries. For quite some time, the lottery dealers here had stopped selling the lottery tickets of the Nagaland Government.

CULTURE

A self-taught painter
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, June 13
‘‘I was interested in drawing and painting right from class II. Unfortunately, I did not train under any teacher for no one thought that I was serious about it. But I was determined to become an artist. So after completing matric, I decided to devote myself to learn painting. My teachers were Sobha Singh, Rembrandt, Shiskin and Leanardo-de-Vince. From these great masters, I learnt anatomy, form, colour and composition by studying their works.’’

Kuljit has been painting since 1988 and has painted more than 200 works. After seeing his paintings, it is rather admirable that a man with zeal, zest and enthusiasm can reach the pinnacle of success even without a teacher. This, in itself, speaks volumes of his painstaking efforts , industry and his love for art. Kuljit has specialised in portraits, Punjabi culture and Sikh history. Going through his paintings, one is wonder struck by the liveliness of the paintings of rural folks, the background. His depiction of ‘gidha’ and ‘bhangra’ capture the vigorous movements and joyous moods of the performers.

Being deeply religious, he has painted scenes from Sikh history with rare insight. A painting of Guru Nanak Dev seated under a tree meditating has a soothing effect on the viewer. Paintings of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur, Maharani Jinda, Dalip Singh, Baba Farid, Harkrishan Rai are executed with great precision and are elegant.

He has captured the religious spirit in a painting titled ‘Sacha Sauda’ depicting Guru Nanak Dev distributing langar. A painting on Guru Gobind Singh being captured by Pathans has brought out the ‘viscousness’ of Pathans and fearlessness on the face of Guru Gobind Singh realistically. His other paintings that appeal are the paintings of traditional rural activities kikli, Jago etc.

Kuljit said, ‘‘I have held countless number of exhibitions . My one-man shows have been held all over Punjab. My future plans are to capture folk scenes of all states of India. It takes me more than two months to complete my painting. It saddens me that people can spend crores of rupees on building a beautiful house but they cannot encourage an artist by buying his works of art. I annually display my paintings at Prof Mohan Singh Cultural Fair and at exhibition of Sikh paintings in Parkash Utsav of Guru Gobind Singh held by Guru Gobind Singh Foundation Chandigarh.’’

This talented artist has won a couple of awards, including awards from the Ludhiana Art Society in 1990 (second prize), City Beautiful Arts School and Fine Art Hobby Centre Chandigarh (second prize in 1991 and third prize in 1993), Art India Ludhiana in 1991 (consolation award) and Lalit Kala Academy Chandigarh (merit in 1995).