PAU to go ahead with its virtual Kisan Mela

Amritsar, March 9

Even as normalcy has returned and most institutes, including schools, have started working in an offline mode, premier agricultural institute Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, has not done away with its virtual Kisan Melas, which were started during the pandemic earlier last year.

The PAU has announced the date for virtual Kisan Mela at Nag Kalan on March 14. However, farmers in the district said the online Kisan Melas were of no use for most of them due to low internet connectivity and other technical issues.

“If primary kids can attend school, then what are the organisers of Kisan Mela afraid of?” asked a farmer. The Kisan Melas are organised biannually to disseminate new seeds and technical knowhow to famers.

The farmers said in line with other institutions, the Kisan Mela should be held in physical form, so that farmers can get their queries addressed from the agriculture scientists and also give their feedback about farm practices recommended by the university.

“It is not understandable that why the university is shying away from holding the mela in physical form. We have recently seen election campaigning despite the pandemic,” said another farmer.

The officials at Nag Kalan Krishi Vigyan Kendra said the decision of organising a virtual Kisan Mela was taken up by the higher ups. They added that even they have received complaints from farmers for not organising the mela in an offline mode.