PAU wheat varieties get top rank
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 4
The varieties developed by Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) have dominated the wheat scene during the past eight years not only in the Punjab but the national level. A major share of wheat area falling in nearly 10 million hectares of the North Western Plains Zone (NWPZ), comprising Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Western Uttar Pradesh, parts of Rajasthan and foothills of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttranchal, is being cultivated by the PAU-developed variety PBW 343, released in 1995. Some wheat area is sown late after the harvesting of basmati rice and potato, and in such lands PBW 373, released in 1996 has been the best variety under irrigated late-sown conditions.

At the recent All-India Coordinated Trials, conducted under irrigated timely sown condition in NWPZ, PBW 343 has been one of the highest yielding varieties and has been ranked first with respect to grain yield in 1992-93 and continuously from 1994-95 to 2000-01.

PBW 373 ranked first with respect to grain yield in the All-India coordinated trials conducted under irrigated late-sown conditions in the NWPW during 1994-95, 1995-96, 1996-97, 1999-2000, 2000-01 and 2002-03. PBW-373 ranked second in this highest series of trials during 1997-98 and 1998-99, the years during which another PAU variety PBW 435 ranked first in the zone.

PBW 343 and PBW 373 possess high degree of resistance to rust diseases and have remained free from yellow rust even under artificial inoculation conditions.

Since the release of PBW 343 in 1995, a significant shift in varietal distribution was noticed in Punjab. The area under PBW 343 increased from 9.09 per cent in 1996-97 to 46.39 per cent in 1997-98; 79.47 per cent in 1998-99; and further to 89.50 per cent in 2002-03 owing to its better grain yield, loading resistance, disease resistance and straw yield. This year vertical popularity graph of PBW 343 is a unique example and is a record in the history of wheat improvement in the state.

Significant increase in wheat production has been witnessed by Punjab since the release of PBW 343. Wheat production in Punjab was 125.18 lakh tonnes in 1995-96 and increased to 159.00 lakh tonnes in 1999-2000. Similarly, the average yield of wheat Punjab increased from 3884 kg/ha in 1995-96 to 4704 kg/ha in 1999-2000. New records of wheat production and yield were established during 1996-97, 1998-99 and 1999-2000. The production declined in 2002-03 due to foggy weather and heavy rains coupled with strong winds. The Special Committee on Varietal Identification at its meeting during the 39th All India Wheat Research Workers Meeting in Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, from August 27 to 30 this year was impressed by the outstanding performance of PBW 343 in NWPZ.

Compensation sought for farmers’ families
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 4
The Democratic Employees Front, Punjab while condemning the lathicharge on farmers at Bhai Bakhtaur in Bathinda district has called upon the government to take immediate steps for the payment of adequate compensation to the families of the deceased farmers and those injured in the police firing.

The district conveners of the DEF, Mr Jasdev Singh Lalton, Mr Jagdev Singh Garcha, Mr Dayal Singh, Mr Harbhajan Singh and Mr Darshan Kumar, in a joint statement here today, have demanded registration of criminal cases against the erring officials and withdrawal of cases against activists of farmers’ bodies. They said the use of force by the police without any provocation against peaceful farmers was the extreme kind of repressive action on part of the government.

In a separate development, a meeting of the front, presided over by Mr Gurcharan Singh Sandhu, discussed in detail the proposed move of the state government to hand over five departments — education, health, animal husbandry, public health and pensions — to panchayats. The meeting apprehended that the work of the departments, if handed over to panchayats, would suffer for lack of adequate funds and even the employees of these departments might be denied timely payment of their salaries.

In an appeal to the panchayats and other elected bodies, the DEF urged them to say a firm no to the government proposal unless it was backed by a comprehensive financial package.

NSUI for students’ insurance
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 4
The all-India secretary of the NSUI, Mr Raghwendre Naryana, presided over a meeting of the National Student Union of India (NSUI) at the Congress Bhavan here today.

Talking to media, Mr Raghwendre said they were persuading the government to insure the students on the pattern of Maharashtra and Karnataka governments. He said the students need insurance against accidents and the government is obliged to provide insurance to students.

He said the total membership of the NSUI was 25,000 and they wanted the membership to go up by another 5000. “We are not going to touch the bad elements in colleges as a few bad fish can spoil the whole pond,” said Mr Narayan.

He thanked Captain Amarinder Singh for the fee rollback as it had helped the student community. Mr Narayana said the ABVP believed in burning effigies and taking out rallies. Leaders of the ABVP are teachers and lawyers, whereas the NSUI is led by student leaders, he added.

He also condemned the “anti-student” policies of the NDA government. “It is because of the short-sighted policies that unemployment is on the rise, he lamented.

Counselling session for teachers held
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, October 4
An intensive counselling session for school and college teachers was organised by the Kala Sewa Society at Dhodha House here yesterday.

The session was aimed at devising new means of improving the quality of education, making classroom teaching more interesting and developing effective learning tools. As many as 60 school and college teachers as well as principals participated.

Addressing participants, Mr Bachitar Singh, District Education Officer (secondary), said parents these days were too occupied in their jobs and other social obligations that they were finding it impossible to spare time for their children. He said under such circumstances, the role of the teachers in shaping the life of the children was even more significant.

Ms Sudesh Bajaj, Deputy District Education Officer (secondary), said teachers should not resort to any kind of physical punishment. Instead, they must carefully listen and understand students’ problems and then guide them accordingly. She stressed on the need to hold such counselling sessions frequently and said that the department would offer any required support for the purpose.

Mr R.L. Narang, psychiatrist, talked about various problems in disturbed children such as bed wetting, tantrum throwing and aggressiveness. Ms Inderjit Gill Vashisht, a former Principal, Government College for Women, talked about changing lifestyles and their affect on children. Ms Lakhwinder, Assistant Professor, Punjab Agricultural University, spoke on the needs of emotionally starved children.