PAU to Award 7 Progressive Farmers at Kisan Mela on March 24

Jatinder Singh, a resident of Munda village in Tarn Taran, will be honoured with the "Chief Minister Award" for agricultural excellence. On 100 acres, he cultivates wheat, beetroot, cauliflower, mustard, and berseem during the Rabi season, and paddy, maize, and basmati during the Kharif season.

After completing a two-year diploma course in Agriculture at PAU, he adheres to the university's recommendations for the use of agro-chemicals, soil testing for fertilizer use, paddy straw management (Happy Seeder and Super Seeder), and has established a farm machinery bank for the benefit of small and marginal farmers.

Gurvinder Singh Sohi, a resident of Fatehgarh Sahib's Nanowal Khurd hamlet, will also receive the "Chief Minister Award" for emerging as a role model in flower gardening. He has 22 acres of land, nine of which are ancestral and 13 of which are leased. He plants rajmash, wheat, paddy, and other crops in addition to flowers and has developed gladiolus digger and bed marker technology. He has founded a Farmer-Producer Organization (FPO) comprising 65 farmers who want to know how to grow flowers and vegetables.

Two young farmers, Raman Salaria of Pathankot's Jungal village and Jaramanjeet Singh of Tarn Taran's Nurpur village, will be honoured with the "Jathedar Gurdita Singh Mahal Memorial Prize" for achievement in horticulture.

Salaria, a 38-year-old engineering graduate, began horticulture on 8 acres after quitting his job in New Delhi. He employs a solar-powered micro irrigation system. He achieved marvels with 1.5 acres of intercropping of dragon fruit and strawberry, as well as 1.5 acres of marigold and 5 acres of muskmelon agriculture, having garnered knowledge from Bharuch and Patiala.

Jaramanjeet, 40, who owns 18 acres and grows vegetables on 12 acres, raises vegetable nursery, prepares polybag and vermicompost, and irrigates vegetable nursery with drip irrigation, sprinkler irrigation, or rain gun. He is a member of the PAU Kisan Club and has established an office where he supplies vegetables nursery and labour to fellow farmers.

Farmers Jagdeep Singh of Sandhuan village in Rupnagar and Dhandeep Singh of Kutbeywalan Gujran village in Ludhiana will each receive two "CRI Pump Awards." Jagdeep has been using Paddy Transplanters, Rotavator, Mulcher, Straw Reaper, Potato Planter, Potato Digger, Laser Leveller, and Happy Seeder on his 30 acres for the past 15 years. He has installed underground water pipes to save water and hires farm machines on a custom basis.

Dhandeep, 39, has made significant efforts to conserve water. PAU trained him in drip irrigation, protected cultivation, organic farming, water conservation, and soil health management, and he now saves about 70% of his water. He hasn't burned paddy straw in ten years and sows wheat with Super Seeder.

Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Patiala's Miranpur village, will receive the "Sardarni Prakash Kaur Sra Memorial Award" for his leadership in crop diversification. He farms on 4.5 acres, sowing wheat, basmati rice, and mushrooms, as well as dairy farming.