World Bank officials undergo training at PAU

The department of soil and water engineering, PAU, organised a two-day orientation workshop for the officials of the World Bank and The Energy Research Institute (TERI) and field managers from Dhanoya, Nawajipur and Bambiwal feeders of Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar districts under a pilot project on ‘Direct Benefit Transfer of Electricity for Agriculture’ in association with TERI and World Bank.
The two-day workshop aimed to increase awareness about the various interventions which can be adopted by farmers to save water and energy for sustainable agriculture. Dr Rajan Aggarwal, head, department of soil & water engineering, and principal investigator of the scheme, shed light on water conservation and groundwater augmentation and efficient utilization of agricultural pumps. Various presentations and field visits regarding water management intervention in relation to different types of soil for Punjab were facilitated by Dr Nilesh Biwalkar and Dr Bharat Bhushan Co-PIs of the scheme.
Dr Rajan Aggarwal said the Punjab government has notified on June 14 a scheme titled ‘Paani Bachao Paisa Kamao’ to support the farmers in more efficient resource use and improve agricultural productivity. There are 567 progressive farmers under this scheme.
Dr Anil Sharma, deputy director, Radio and TV, PAU, talked about dissemination of information through traditional media as well through video capsules for promotion of DBTE. Dr Angrej Singh shared his experience about crop management practices for different cropping systems prevalent in Punjab.
Research workshop
The research & extension specialists workshop for fruits, mushrooms, agro-forestry along with the post-harvest management, farm power machinery and food technology & agri economics is going to be held on February 6 and 7 at Pal Auditorium, PAU, said Dr J S Mahal, director, extension education, PAU.