Wetland attracts rare birds
Keshopur wetland has attracted more than 15,000 rare migratory birds from Siberia and Central Asian countries so far. The count is expected to peak in December when about 23,000-25,000 birds are expected to make the wetland their winter abode.
No solution to stubble burning, say experts
Farmers will continue to burn paddy residue because there are no concrete options available to them. This is the reason why experts maintain that eradicating the menace is a far-fetched proposition. Amrik Singh, Agriculture Officer, Gurdaspur, says the agriculture department is impressing upon the farming community to promote short-duration crops like PR-126 and Pusa-1509. “These crops have a maturity period of 90-95 days instead of 125-130 days for non-basmati varieties,” he says. However, experts counter him and claim that this is not a feasible option as basmati is not procured by the government at MSP thereby denying farmers an assured income. Agriculture department officials say that the other solution is to adopt technology to counter the problem of setting alight paddy stubble. “Farmers are increasingly using various techniques and equipment to tide over the problem. They are also going in for direct seeding of wheat with super-seeder after removing stubble by mixing residue with soil using rotavators,” said an official. However, farmers say there is an acute shortage of equipment, particularly baler machines and to compound matters, not many paddy growers can afford these. Yet another way out espoused by the government is the alternate use of stubble which includes generating energy or using straw in cement plants. “However, the baler machines that can be spotted in Punjab during this time of the year are extremely costly and out of reach of farmers, a majority of whom are debt-ridden,” said an agriculture department official who has been engaged in fighting the menace but admits he is fighting a losing battle. Here is some advice for the administration officials: Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a losing battle!
Name of game is different ballgame for Kiwis
A Gurdaspur resident who met a New Zealand player in the World Cup match at Dharamshala recently came up with an interesting revelation. The cricketer told him that his country’s sports teams had nicknames, officially or otherwise. If cricketers are called Black Caps, other teams have names such as All Blacks (rugby), All Whites (football-men), Black Socks (softball-men), Volley Blacks (volleyball-men), White Socks (softball-women), Diamond Blacks (baseball-men), Beach Blacks (beach volleyball-men), Beach Ferns (beach volleyball-women), Black Sticks (both men and women), Football Ferns (football-women), Ice Blacks (ice hockey-men), Silver Ferns (netball-women) and so on and so forth. One is reminded of the Shakespearean dilemma: What’s in a name?
Ravi Dhaliwal
