Rakhra Kisan Mela cum Farmers Training Camp organized by the Punjab Young Farmers Association, here was inaugurated by Maharani Preneet Kaur Former Minister of State for External Affairs Govt. of India to-day. Thousands of farmers from all over the state and neighbouring Rajasthan and Haryana thronged the fair. Farmers purchased with enthusiasm the foundation seeds of Basmati varieties developed by the ICAR- Indian Agricultural Research Institute. There was a great hunger among them to obtain the seeds of the newly released Pusa Basmati 1718 and Pusa Basmati 1728 varieties which are the improved versions of Pusa Basmati 1121 & Pusa Basmati 1401 respectively. The new varieties have been made attractive by making them free from the diseases of blast and bacterial blight, etc. and by increasing their yield potential. There was a great enthusiasm among farmers for planting basmati varieties since they received a favourable price for their basmati produce this year. Dr. Ashok Kumar Singh Director Pusa ICAR- IARI explained to the farmers the characteristics of various varieties of basmati. He said Pusa Basmati 1401 variety of rice had been rated above all from the point of view of quality. Rice of Pusa Basmati 1121 being the longest and internationally acclaimed is being exported to Gulf countries and others on a large scale. He said soon the farmers will switch over to the new PB 1728 & PB-1718 varieties along with them. Dr P C Sharma director ICAR-CSSRI, Karnal explained the characteristics of CSR 60 & CSR 56 varieties of paddy developed by the Institute for sodic/Saline lands. Farmers showed keen interest for planting these varieties. Farmers also purchased eagerly the foundation seeds of the highest yielding Pusa 44 variety of superfine rice.Dr Gyanendra Pratap Singh Director ICAR- Indian Institute of Wheat and Barley Research (IIWBR) was given the Dr Amrik Singh Cheema Award 2018-19. He was chosen for the honour for his exceptional research and success in developing wheat varieties like HD-3086, HD-2967, DBW-187 and DBW-173 which had benefited the farmers immensely. Dr Sutantar Kumar Airi Director of Agriculture, Punjab was honoured for his outstanding contribution in straightening out the seed production and distribution in Punjab. He explained the various schemes run by the Punjab Govt. for the welfare of farmers.Mr. Amarjit Singh Waraich-IBS (P) Station Director of AIR Patiala was honoured for his outstanding contribution in reaching farming communities in the rural areas through All India Radio.
Maharani Preneet Kaur said that she was proud that if her mother-in-law late Rajmata Mohinder Kaur M.P. was instaumental and played key role in strengthening the Young Farmers Association and she was a co- founder. She lauded the role of Baba Bhupinder Singh in developing minds of people especially farmers and he dwelt upon removing social evils.Delivering the keynote address Dr Ashok Kumar Singh Director ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute said farmers will soon get some new varieties of wheat to provide Diversification and to check HD-3086 variety from becoming a monoculture.Association’s offg President Mr Harpuneet Singh Sandhu welcomed the guests. Mr. Bhagwan Dass Secretary-General Punjab Young Farmers Association said that the Association had brought crop diversification by introducing Basmati cultivation in the state. These varieties of Basmati also resulted in the saving of water and had brought foreign exchange to the country. He said that the export had risen to rupees 40 thousand corers. The opening of IARI –Collaborative Outstation Research Centre Rakhra at YFA campus here have enabled farmers to get seeds of ICAR-IARI varieties and had enabled the researchers to develop varieties suited to Punjab soil and environment.Mr. Rajju Shroff Chairman Crop Care Federation of India and UPL was honoured for helping the Punjab farmers by lowering the prices of pesticides. He said Punjab was using less pesticides than Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Mr Vijay Setia President All – India Rice Exporters Association suggested that pesticides should be packed and sold on per acre basis.Dr. A K Singh Jt. Director (Research) ICAR-IARI stressed upon reducing area under rice and bring more and more Basmati to save the water level. Farmers expressed their interest in the seeds being given by the Association and there were long ques for buying the seeds The entire quantity of the seed was finished and a number of farmers returned without the seeds of Basmati which they wanted to purchase.Mr. Rajinder Singh MLA praised the Association which were serving the farmers for the last 50 years. He said the farmers had a great confidence in the Association whose membership had crossed 9000 members. He said probably this was the sole institution being run on non-political basis in the State. Maharani Preneet Kaur inspected the demonstration plot of the newly developed HD3226 variety of wheat and she said the varieties of rice & wheat given through the Association were being sown on more than 50 per cent area in the State.