The Captain Amarinder Singh led Punjab Government on Friday offered special training camps for farmers and officers of the border state of Jammu and Kashmir to facilitate technical exchange in the field of agriculture.Interacting with a group of farmers of Akhnoor Tehsil, who are touring Punjab as part of Indian Army's Operation Sadbhavna, Senior Advisor to Chief Minister, Lt. Gen. (Retd.) T S Shergill, asked Director Agriculture, Punjab, to coordinate with his Jammu Kashmir counterpart and devise a mechanism for holding focussed programmes for farmers at Punjab Agriculture University (PAU) Ludhiana at the earliest.Gen Shergill also asked the department to examine the feasibility of making the programme a regular affair so as to ensure continuous flow of knowledge transfer about machine techniques and farm practices between farmers of the two states, whose agricultural eco-system had many commonalities.
Shergill pointed out that Punjab, under the leadership of Captain Amarinder Singh, had taken major leaps in its efforts to boost crop diversification. The state would be very happy to share its resource base with J & K, which was also majorly into growing different varieties of paddy and wheat ,he added.Recalling his service stint in Akhnoor region, General Shergill, who commanded 10 Div there between 1996 and 1998, lauded the Indian Army for taking this novel initiative, thus offering a productive platform for intermingling of diverse ideas.The group of 25 farmers, led by Major Amit Choudhary, also presented a memento to Gen Shergill as a token of their respect. The farmers, who also visited PAU Ludhiana and GADVASU, thanked the state government for their hospitality and cooperation in arranging their stay.Prominent amongst others who were present during the meeting were Additional Chief Secretary Development Viswajit Khanna, DGP Intelligence VK Bhawra, Director Agriculture Sutantar Kumar Airi, OSD to Senior Advisor Karanvir Singh, and Agriculture Development Officer Dr. Surinderpal Singh.