Punjab Government has decided to establish a state-of-the-art Sugarcane Research and Training Institute at Kalanaur to encourage sugarcane farming and dwell on modern techniques.
Announcing this, the state Cooperation Minister Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said that the sugarcane farming has the potential to play a major role in boosting crop diversification and bringing the farming sector out of the present tough times, and for the same, the Institute is being established.Randhawa, after presiding over a meeting of the scientists as well as experts working with the top notch sugarcane institutes, said that in order to give fillip to the sugarcane farming, a world level modern institute would be set up which would go a long way in revolutionizing the sugarcane farming sector with new and innovative techniques leading to further augmentation of the farmers’ income, and increasing the sugarcane production.
“It is with the intention of opening such an institute that a team of sugarcane farming experts visited the Vasant Dada Institute in Pune and today’s meeting dwelled upon the report prepared by the team that visited the Institute,” he said.During the meeting, it was also decided that a five-member team would be set up to give its report on the setting up of the Institute within a fortnight. The team includes Director of the Sugarcane Breeding Institute, Coimbatore, director Dr Bakshi Ram, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Vice Chancellor Dr BS Dhillon, Advisor to National Federation of Cooperative Sugar Factories Limited RB Dole, Sugarfed managing director Davinder Singh, and Rana Sugar Mills managing director Rana Inder Pratap Singh.
“Adopting crop diversification is need of the hour to save farming sector and the ground water,” he said adding that the sugarcane farming can prove to be a boon for the farmers of Punjab and establishing such an Institute is absolutely necessary for carrying out ultra modern research.
During the course of the meeting, the certificate to the Punjab Sugarcane Club, formed by the Sugarfed, was also issued. The Club would have as members at least 50 progressive sugarcane farmers, general managers and CCDOs. Apart from this, it is also proposed to co-opt as members some officers, representatives of the PAU Ludhiana as well as the Cane Commissioner.
The Club would work for the welfare of the sugarcane farmers of Punjab and would ensure the training of the sugarcane farmers as per the exchange of expertise in the sugarcane farming with the other states of country. PNS
