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PAU imparts skills on use of ornamental plants for landscaping
Dr Kuldeep Singh, head, department of extension education and associate director (skill development), observed that the floriculture and landscaping has proved to be a sustainable lucrative business as the demand for flowers as well as ornamental plants has always seen a spurt in hotels, educational institutions, community places and parks, religious places, homes, farm houses, etc
The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) organised a two-day training programme on the “Use of ornamental plants for landscaping”, to keep the city dwellers and villagers aligned with the latest trends of landscaping.
Dr Kuldeep Singh, head, department of extension education and associate director (skill development), observed that the floriculture and landscaping has proved to be a sustainable lucrative business as the demand for flowers as well as ornamental plants has always seen a spurt in hotels, educational institutions, community places and parks, religious places, homes, farm houses, etc. Be it small- or large-scale floral business, farmers, nurseries and amateurs are earning substantially, thus changing the entire socio-economic landscape of the concerned rural and urban citizens, he added.
The programme coordinator Prerna Kapila said that the training programme was planned keeping in the mind the rising preference for the use of ornamental plants for landscaping at the rooftop of the houses, farms or other surrounding areas.
The resource persons Parminder Singh, head, department of floriculture and landscaping; KK Dhatt, Rishu Sharma, Ranjit Singh, Tanya Thakur, Simrat Singh, Madhu Bala and Aman Sharma whetted the skills of the trainees on different aspects of landscaping. They laid specific thrust on the selection of site and plants, their maintenance as per the season, and their reuse as well as rejuvenation through newly evolved agricultural technologies.
In his welcome remarks, expert Dilpreet Talwar said that the domestic and commercial cultivation of flowers as well as ornamental plants was picking up to add greenery as well as for beautification and idyllic atmosphere. He informed that the trainees also visited a nursery for gaining practical experience and becoming familiar with different ornamental plants.
PAU hosts webinar on communication skills
The PAU’s department of extension education, in collaboration with the communication centre, organised a webinar to enhance communication skills among university experts, scientists, Krishi Vigyan Kendra professionals and extension workers.
The webinar featured speakers, including former additional director of communication Dr Ranjit Singh and Dr Jagwinder Singh, editor of Punjabi at the communication centre. Dr Ranjit Singh emphasised the essential qualifications of an extension worker, highlighting the importance of subject matter expertise, language proficiency, self-confidence, and up-to-date technological knowledge. He stressed that clarity of purpose is crucial when writing extended articles for newspapers, magazines, and TV/radio talks.
Dr Jagwinder Singh discussed the literary qualities that enhance a text’s printability. He noted that simplicity, brevity, clarity, suggestiveness, and avoiding repetition and cumbersome language significantly improve a text’s communicative effectiveness.
Director of extension education Dr Makhan Singh Bhullar delivered the welcome speech, detailing the directorate’s efforts to develop experts’ capacities. He assured that every effort would be made to convey research technologies to farmers.
Additional director of communication Dr Tejinder Singh Riar reiterated the webinar’s purpose, underscoring PAU’s unwavering commitment to delivering constructive and effective literature to farmers and its plans to continue such initiatives.
