Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, February 6
An Agri-Business Incubators’ Conclave was organised at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today, wherein start-ups, investors, successful agri-entrepreneurs, industry experts and agriculture-based stakeholders participated. The conclave was organised by the Directorate of Extension Education in collaboration with PAU Kisan Club.
Awardees
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The Bibi Jagir Kaur Award and the Kisan Bibi Award were bestowed on farm women Jaspreet Kaur and Charanjit Kaur, respectively
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Farmers Rajwinder Singh, GS Aujla, Kulwant Singh, Raj Kumar, Jagtar Singh and Gurpal Singh were awarded for soil health maintenance, organic farming, pesticide free cultivation, flower cultivation and beekeeping, respectively
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Besides, farmers Sukhjeet Singh, Gurpreet Singh, GS Saran, Daljinder Singh, Ajit Inderpal Singh and Balwinder Singh were felicitated for their contributions to seed and nursery production, goat farming, pig faming, fisheries and agro-processing, respectively
Rajbir Singh Brar, director, Indian Council of Agricultural Research-Agricultural Technology Application Research Institute (ICAR-ATARI), Ludhiana, was the chief guest on the occasion. He said: “This conclave aims at sharing experiences and gaining knowledge. It will inspire the rural youths to become self-employed.”
Focusing only on production was an old trend now, he stated, while calling upon farmers to become successful agri-entrepreneurs by processing and marketing their own products. He appreciated the jaggery and honey products, prepared and displayed by the self-help groups, at stalls put up at the conclave.
Diljeet Pal Singh Brar, MLA, Vancouver, Canada, and alumnus of the university, said the alumni of this university had carved a niche for themselves at national and international levels. “There is no dearth of agricultural knowledge in Punjab, but implementing it properly is a challenge,” he said while citing successful examples of Punjabi agricultural entrepreneurs based in Canada.
Dr JS Mahal, director, Extension Education, PAU, the university had launched a Punjab Agri-Business Incubator (PABI) at the skill development centre of the university. “PABI aims at promoting agri-preneurship and agri-business by nurturing incubation eco-system and providing financial support. It also assists and guides agri-preneurs to understand collaborative models of operation for success,” he added.
The conclave concluded with presentation of the annual report of PAU Kisan Club by TS Riar, associate director (Skill Development). He said the university had formed nine clubs with 6,700 farmers as their members.