Hisar agri varsity steps up efforts for reviving cotton cultivation in state

Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini who was the chief guest on the inauguration stressed the need to promote mechanisation and improved cotton varieties to prevent the area under the crop from declining further. He urged the agriculture scientists to develop better varieties of cotton which had better resistance and needed less irrigation.

The CM while referring to a cotton-picking machine displayed at the fair, which could pick cotton balls from one acre in an hour, taking nearly half the time required for manual picking, said the government was promoting machines for cotton picking and sugarcane peeling, along with other technologies, to address labour shortages that could otherwise discourage the farmers from cultivating these crops.

Highlighting the government’s initiatives for farmers, Saini said 1.6 crore Soil Health Cards had been issued after testing soil samples from farmers’ fields. Seventeen new soil and water testing laboratories had been established in the state, while 54 mini soil-testing laboratories had been opened in mandis, he said adding that about 240 mini laboratories had already been set up in schools and colleges. Through the “Har Khet-Swasth Khet” portal, the farmers can register to get their soil tested, he

The CM said the Krishi Mela provided an important platform for the exchange of knowledge and technology between the farmers and scientists. It enabled the farmers to learn about improved crop varieties, modern farming techniques, machinery, crop management and the latest agricultural research. He said technologies such as drones, sensor-based systems, digital weather information and precision farming were increasingly becoming part of agriculture.

The Chief Minister said the state government was committed to supporting the farmers from seed to market. He also thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the recent increase in the minimum support price (MSP) of crops, adding that all crops grown by the farmers in Haryana were being procured at MSP. He presented certificates of appreciation and mementoes to the farmers who were felicitated at the event.

The HAU VC Prof BR Kamboj said the university’s efforts to address the challenges facing cotton cultivation included monitoring and management of pink bollworm, ensuring the availability of quality seeds, evaluating improved varieties, promoting integrated pest management and reducing the cost of cultivation. “The farmer feedback and the adoption of technologies at the field level are expected to play an important role in these efforts,” he said.

The two-day agriculture fair attracted 1.46 lakh farmers from Haryana, Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

A cotton growing farmer Ramandeep Singh from Kirtan village commented that cotton crop used to be a cash crop, which had now turned into a loss-making crop. “Nakdi fasal ab karje wali fasal ho gayi hai. Repeated crop failures due to diseases, and pest attacks have inflicted heavy losses to the farmers who were not even able to recover the input costs. The farmers can turn to cotton only if there are disease resistant seed varieties and the solution to the pink bollworm and whitefly attack,” he said.