Chandigarh
26 November 2018
DIVYA AZAD
CII Agro Tech India 2018, not only promises to bring in new technology in the farming sector but also aims to bridge the gap between farmers and the decision makers. Kisan Goshthees, which are an important part of the fair will discuss issues which are sure to interest the farming community.
On the other hand, among the several conferences which will be a part of four-day premier agro fair, a session on paddy residue burning will be an important issue that would be deliberated upon in detail.
While Radha Mohan Singh, Union Minister of Agriculture will be present at the inaugural session, Om Parkash Dhankar, Haryana Agriculture Minister will be participating in one of the sessions, besides Dr Balwinder Singh Sidhu, Commissioner Agriculture, Punjab who is also among the guests at the fair.
Kisan Goshthees (Vernacular Interactive Sessions with Farmers) are typically one-hour long interactions with farmers, conducted by a moderator, an expert from the industry, a government official, a researcher and one or two progressive farmers. Besides discussions, farmers also attend self-explanatory sessions featuring educative films and power point presentations by anchor institutions attending the fair. They facilitate experience sharing and learning from success stories.
With Indian agriculture undergoing spectacular changes in the recent past, Crop diversification is one of the Key Thrust Areas in today’s scenario where the continuous wheat- paddy cropping system has led to a reduction not only in crop productivity but also led to irreversible damage to the soil and associated natural resources. The water table in the paddy growing areas has reduced drastically. All these problems have the only solution i.e. Agriculture Diversification, which would be taken up on the second day of the CII Agro Tech India 2018.
The fair will also on the same day host a conference which would deliberate on how food processing industry serves as a vital link between the agriculture and manufacturing sectors of the economy. It will further discuss how natural resources are being degraded hence necessitating a need for change and strengthening the food processing industry to reduce wastage of agricultural raw materials and improving the shelf life of food products, besides also ensuring affordable prices to consumers. The areas of Big Data and AI Integration in ecosystem, Fostering Industry Partnership for scale and success and Financing of Start-ups shall also be dealt during the ‘AgLive 2018- The Global Agri Challenge’ during the first three days of the fair. The workshop is aimed at gaining the insights into various plausible AI based applications, potential areas of incorporation in the agriculture ecosystem.
Kisan Goshthees take off on the inaugural day of the fair with commercial dairy farming through scientific management. Sessions on cultivation of medicinal and aromatic plants, session on paddy straw management and organic farming will be held on the second day. The day will see dignitaries from Centre of Aromatic Plants, Uttarakhand and National Medicinal Plants Board, GOI.
Third day of the fair will see sessions on Opportunities in fish farming in North India and how agriculture can be made profitable for farmers and an interesting subject of use of solar energy in agriculture. Session on use of solar energy is sure to be exciting with official from Punjab Energy Development Agency (PEDA) sharing details of their schemes. An informative session on pig farming shall also be a part of the third day.
‘Sustainable Dairy Farming through indigenous breeds’ will be taken up on the last day of the fair. There will be representatives from Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) and the Dairy Development Board who will be sharing their expertise with farmers across the four days. Mr. Balbir Singh Sidhu, Hon’ble Minister for Animal Husbandry, Dairy Development & Labour, Government of Punjab, will address the farmers through a special valedictory session for Kisan Goshthees on the last day of the fair.
Four days of deliberations at Kisan Goshthees shall feature an Info Desk, which will provide the farmers with informative brochures, while digital panels in Agri Theatres which help in adding value to sessions as these will be screened before and after each session.
