Vet Varsity Announces Names of Progressive Farmers for Chief Minister’s Awards

Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) will confer Chief Minister Awards to four progressive livestock farmers of the state on 14th March at Pashu Palan Mela being organized at Ludhiana. Dr. Parkash Singh Brar, Director of Extension Education said that the varsity is making all-out efforts for the development of the livestock sector in the state by strengthening its extension programs.

To motivate various livestock farmers, the university organizes innovative competitions by assessing the extent and impact of the adoption of these technologies in improving the productivity and profitability of different category livestock farming systems. In this response, the university received several applications. A committee of experts including deans and directors visited the livestock farmers who participated in the competitions and evaluated the total farming system. After the final decision, the university announced the names of winners in different categories.

In the buffalo category, Daljeet Kaur Toor w/o S. Gurmeet Singh Toor, village Khosa Kotla, PO Khosa Randhir, District Moga was selected for the award. She is the 1st woman farmer to receive the Chief Minister Award among various livestock categories given by this university. From traditional dairy farming, the family of Daljeet Kaur shifted outside the village and set up a modern dairy farm in 2019. She has studied up to +2 and took training from Dairy Development Centre Gill and Punjab Agricultural University in 2001.

Now she has a herd of 32 Nili Ravi Buffaloes. Daily milk production is approximately 150 liters from 13 milking animals. The highest peak yield so far attained is 22 litres per day.  She feeds silage ad-lib and customized feed according to milk production. She sells the milk directly to her customers and prepares ghee. She has kept most of the records, particularly breeding records for a few generations which are of lineage from the breeds in Pakistan. The animals are kept loose and enjoy wallowing tank. The farm also has a gobar gas plant and slurry is used as a fertilizer in her 15 acres of agricultural land. 

Rupinder Pal Singh s/o S. Jaspal Singh, village Jandwala Charat Singh, District Sri Mukatsar Sahib has been selected for the award in the fish farming category. He started fish farming in 2012 with 5 acres of land and now has increased his farms to 36 acres. This BTech graduate farmer took training from Rohtak and toured different parts of India to gain knowledge about fish farming. He gets around 2200 kg yield of fish per acre. He shifted to shrimp farming in 2017 to exploit the prevailing salinity issues. He also established a shrimp hatchery with 100% survivability. He constructed a cold storage facility under PM Yojna to preserve the produce in 2021.  

In the Piggery category Bikramjit Singh s/o S. Paramjit Singh, village Fatehgarh Shukar Chakk, District Amritsar will be decorated with the award. He has a BTech in computer science and ventured into pig farming in 2016. He took training from KVK Amritsar. Now he has 20 boars, 45 sows and 600 growing piglets. He markets the live pig (125-130 kg) to the eastern state of India i.e. Assam and processes some portions to make different cut pieces and pickles. He makes his feed and is fed according to age and weight basis; mortality is under 1%.  He has developed a modern and comfortable shed. He has kept all the records of vaccinations, health measures and marketing. He has received various appreciation awards from district administrators. 

In the goat farming category Barjinder Singh Kang s/o S. Karnail Singh Kang of Sirhind Road, Patiala has been selected for the award. An MBA degree holder went to Canada for greener pastures but returned after 3-4 years. He started goat farming in 2017 and at present possesses 4 bucks, 58 goats and 23 kids of beetle breed. His animals are stall-fed only. He offers dry fodder (leaves of guava, groundnut, moong), and seasonal green fodder (maize, bajra, berseem & rye grass). He prepares his concentrated feed for different categories of animals. He regularly administers all the vaccines and mortality is less than 1.5%. He has developed his traditional deworming recipe and tries to use the treatment. He markets the animals through social media. He is a member of the Goat Farming Association.

Around 1500 liters of milk is produced in a month with a peak yield of 3.8 liters per day. Dr. Brar informed that these awards carry plaque, shawl, and citation along with cash.