Gndu organized workshop on Dairy Farmers on Management of Cattle Dung through vermicomposting

Amritsar, June 19 (Punjab Post Bureau) – A workshop on  awareness for “Dairy Farmers on Management of Cattle Dung” through vermicomposting (WOV-I) was organized in the Department of Botanical and Environment Sciences of the Guru Nanak Dev University under the aegis of project sanctioned under Mission Tandrust Punjab  by Directorate of Environmental and Climate Change (DECC) Punjab.

During the workshop, different experts provided valuable insight into new techniques of vermicomposting from cow dung and the different types of solid waste. They also shared their experience and difficulties faced during farming practices. Dr. Saroj Arora Professor Department of Botanical and Environment Sciences and coordinator of the event, welcomed all the participants from the NGO’s, farmers from Amritsar and Ludhiana, Research scholars of various Universities.

The inaugural address was delivered by Prof. Jatinder Kaur Head Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences Guru Nanak Dev University. Prof. Keshav Singh resource person from Deen Dayal Upadhaya University Gorakhpur UP delivered an expert lecture on establishing vermicomposting units and highlighted the benefits of vermiwash in integrated farming practices to enhance the yield of crops and farmers’ income. An inspiring vermi-entrepreneur Manish from Mahavir Farm, Phillour shared his success story and encouraged farmers to establish their own vermicomposting units. He mentioned the growing number of farmers in Punjab, Haryana, and other states  have joined him in generating a good income through vermicomposting. Tarsem Singh, a dairy farmer generating a good income by selling organic vegetables and fruits cultivated using vermicompost.

Dr. Rama from the Municipal Corporation of Amritsar expressed her views about the increasing demand of organic vegetables and fruits and encouraged farmers to adopt organic farming. Additionally, Dr. Jaswinder Singh Associate Professor at Khalsa College Amritsar motivated the farmers to join hands to move towards adopting the organic farming and make the environment as well as food free from harmful chemicals. The participants visited the vermicompost unit in the Botanical garden of the university and had the hands on training of different steps to carry on the vermicomposting. The farmers actively participated in the discussion session and promised to cooperate and install the vermicompost units disseminate the message of organic farming to other farmers.

On the second day of workshop, Mr. Jaswinder Singh Bhatia from Farmer’s Training Center, Khalsa College Amritsar stressed upon the idea of “Quality over Quantity” and elaborated methods of vermicomposting and its applications to various crops. Next lecture was delivered by Mr. Balsukhjeet Singh farmer from Tarn Taran Amirtsar. He had over 31 year of experience in the field of organic farming. He further added that the farmers should participate in such awareness workshop so they can improve their agriculture practices using eco-friendly methods. Further, Dr. Sandip Singh Assistant Professor Lovely Professional University Phagwara talked about cow dung as an economic opportunity for farmers. He made the audience aware about various eco-products such as manure, soap, diya, dhoop and religious idols made from cow dung available at various shopping sites. He emphasized on the role of vermicomposting in ecological risk reduction and management of environment. Also, Mr. Jagmohan Singh consultant Lok Kalyan Samiti (NGO) and a master trainer of Vermicomposting explained about the use of organic farming and vermicomposting to decrease the pollution load in the soil and water. Mr. Virender Sandhu Computer Engineer an entrepreneur in organic farming discussed about the holistic cycling approac for the management of waste generated. He further added that wastes should be recycled and be used as resource. All the faculty members as well as non teaching staff of the department were present in the event.