Five-day training programme concludes at PAU

LUDHIANA: A five-day training programme on “Drip Irrigation, Fertigation and Protected Cultivation” concluded at the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) on Friday. As many as 44 farmers from different parts of the state and two farmers from Rajasthan participated in the training, organized by the Precision Farming Development Center (PFDC), department of soil and water engineering, PAU.This training has been made mandatory by the state government for the farmers who are going in for protected cultivation. Rajan Aggarwal, head, department of soil and water engineering, said that drip irrigation and fertigation were the best resource conservation technologies available for the farmers. The adoption of drip irrigation system and protected cultivation would not only increase the income levels of the farmers but would also lead Punjab towards prosperity, he said.
Rakesh Sharda, principal investigator, PFDC, and course coordinator said training was imparted on installation and maintenance of drip irrigation system, scheduling of irrigation and fertigation systems, construction of protected cultivation structures such as poly houses and polynet houses, cultivation practices of various vegetable crops and flowers, protection technologies, green house management and post-harvest technologies. The farmers were also made aware of various subsidies available for micro irrigation and protected cultivation, he added. The farmers were provided hands –on- training in the field as well as at farmer’s field.