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240 farmers attend Kisan Bhagidari Prathmikta Hamari campaign at PAU, Ludhiana
Inaugurating the Bhagidari Prathmikta Hamari campaign, the chief guest Ashok Kumar, director of Extension Education, said, “Seeing the escalating number of agri-entrepreneurs in the contemporary times, PAU, Ludhiana, wishes to empower women and youth to reap rich dividends by turning into agripreneurs as well as agri-startups”
As many as 240 farmers and farm women from different parts of Punjab participated in the Kisan Bhagidari Prathmikta Hamari campaign – Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, organised by the Punjab Agri Business Incubator (PABI), Directorate of Extension Education at the Skill Development Centre, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) on Tuesday.
Inaugurating the campaign, the chief guest Ashok Kumar, director of Extension Education, said, “Seeing the escalating number of agri-entrepreneurs in the contemporary times, PAU wishes to empower women and youth to reap rich dividends by turning into agripreneurs as well as agri-startups.”
TS Riar, principal investigator, PABI, informed that PABI has trained nearly 100 startups and provided grant-in-aid of over 5 crore to 43 startups. Riar called upon the youth to come forward and think critically to observe the problems of society and agriculture, and suggest solutions for the same.
Poonam A Sachdev, head, department of food science and technology, said agricultural economy could be sustained through agripreneurship.
She said, “The Food Industry Business Incubation Centre, set up at PAU with technical guidance from Ohio State University, USA in 2015, has been providing training to the farmers, farm women, young entrepreneurs and self-help groups on the preservation of fruits and vegetables as well as cereal crops. Besides, it is also providing incubational facilities to the entrepreneurs, enabling them to process their produce and sell it in the market.”
So far, several stakeholders have availed incubational facilities for processing turmeric to make pickle; processing and bottling of honey lemon drink; preparation of bael beverage and squash; preparation of multigrain and chocolate porridge, whole wheat nutritious cookies, plum squash and guava pulp; bottling of sugarcane juice and apple juice, Sachdev added.
Kuldeep Singh, associate director (Skill Development) said, “Indian startup ecosystem is the third largest startup ecosystem in the world. In India, there are more than 3,000 agri-startups and the number has seen an upswing in recent times.”
The ministry of agriculture and farmers’ welfare is dedicated to support startups and for this task, different agribusiness incubators such as PABI are being run to solve agriculture and allied sector problems, he added.
PAU signs MoA for smart seeder
A memorandum of agreement (MoA) on tractor-operated PAU smart seeder was signed between Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and Hoshiarpur Steels, Dhadha village, Jalandhar, Punjab.
The head of the department of farm machinery and power engineering Mahesh Kumar Narang said this machine will help in managing paddy straw management as it has advantages of super seeder and happy seeder technology.
As per the details provided by the concerned scientists, PAU smart seeder places wheat seeds in a well-tilled narrow band of soil and covers the seed rows with soil, using furrow closing rollers. This machine can be operated with a 45 to 50 hp tractor. The field capacity and fuel consumption of the machine is 0.4 ha/h and 5.5 l/acre, respectively.
Usha Nara, plant breeder, technology marketing and IPR cell, PAU, informed that the university has signed 289 MoAs till date with different companies, firms and individuals. She said this was the eighth MoA for this technology.
Other Briefs
BCM foundation collabs with Birmingham City University to open MBCIE in district
New campus of the Munjal Birmingham City University Centre of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (MBCIE) was inaugurated at Sector 32-A, Chandigarh road, on Tuesday.
The centre is a joint venture of BCM Foundation (Hero group) and Birmingham City University (BCU).
The facility was inaugurated by Philip Plowden, vice-chancellor BCU. Deputy vice-chancellor (research, innovation and Enterprise) Julian Beer, deputy vice-chancellor (Academic) Peter Francis, Yogesh Munjal, Sunil Kant Munjal, Vijay Munjal and Suresh Munjal were also present.
Sunil Kant Munjal said post graduate, undergraduate and short-term programmes in collaboration with BCU will be offered based on science, technology, engineering, srts and mathematics. The campus has been set up to transform the higher education space in Punjab as well as to boost the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the region.
Philip Plowden said India is one of the largest small and medium business (SMB) ecosystems and also a leading player in the global automotive industry, aided by a vast and growing talent pool of engineers, graduates, experienced professionals and entrepreneurs. The centre will shape their talent by providing them modern education, he added.
Ashu chairs PBA meeting
A meeting of newly-formed executive of Punjab Badminton Association, chaired by former cabinet minister Bharat Bhushan Ashu, current president of the said association, was held in Jalandhar on Monday.
The meeting was held for new office bearers to take charge of the association following the orders of Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Anupam Kumaria, the newly-elected general secretary thanked Ashu for his support.
Ashu assured full financial support required for infrastructure and development of the game.
Agreement between Delhi and Punjab betrayal with people: Parveen Bansal
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and state vice-president Parveen Bansal raised strong objections to the knowledge-sharing agreement signed between the Aam Aadmi Party-led Delhi and Punjab government on Tuesday.
Bansal said the agreement was a big betrayal with the people of Punjab.
“Bhagwant Singh left the Government of Punjab to rule in the hands of Delhi’s leadership through the back door. From today, Punjab will be on the mercy of Delhi,” Bansal said.
“If good governance was the sole criteria, then Kejriwal should have learnt from Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat on how to run a good government, prevent riots in Delhi, keep peace in Delhi and should have signed knowledge-sharing agreements with them,” he said.
Bansal said, “It appears that Mann has entered into this agreement under some compulsion, the reason of which should be told to the people of Punjab.”
