18 July 2021, Punjab: Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Ropar under the aegis of the Directorate of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana and ICAR ATARI Zone-1, Ludhiana organized a Tree Plantation Campaign on the occasion of 93rd foundation day of ICAR on July 16, 2021. Around 65 farmers and farm women participated in this campaign.
The programme was organized under the guidance of Dr. G.S. Makkar, Deputy Director (Trg.), KVK Ropar. Dr. Makkar said that the event was organized to raise awareness regarding importance of trees and environment conservation among the farmers. He added that this campaign is aimed at increasing area under forest and fruit trees especially at farm boundaries by promoting agroforestry/horticulture and will continue during the month of July.
Dr. Avtar Singh, Chief Agricultural Officer, Ropar graced the occasion as Chief Guest. He, while sharing his views, said that conservation of natural resources is the need of the hour for a sustainable future and tree plantation is a very good option for this direction, in addition to the added monetary returns from the trees. He motivated the farmers to adopt agroforestry at their farmland.
Ms. Ankurdeep Preety, Assistant Professor (Agroforestry) discussed the various benefits that are being harvested from trees. She also shared the information regarding choice of species for agroforestry and techniques for planting of the tree saplings.
Dr. Opinder Singh Sandhu, Assistant Professor (Soil Science), highlighted the problem of water scarcity and shared various techniques for judicious use of water both in agriculture as well in our daily life. Dr. Aparna, Dr. Pawan and Dr. Princy also shared valuable technical information on Animal Science, Plant Protection and Home Science, respectively.
On this occasion, tree plantation ceremony was also organized in the KVK premises, followed by distribution of saplings of Neem, Arjun, Burma Dek, Jamun, Tahli, Currypatta and Guava among the farmers. A total of 500 trees were distributed to the farmers of different villages of the district during this occasion.
The programme ended with a vote of thanks presented by Dr. Aparna, Assistant Professor (Animal Science) and a pledge by farmers to plant maximum trees.
