State gets its first biofertiliser production lab at Hoshiarpur

Our Correspondent

Hoshiarpur, February 3

Punjab Food Processing and Horticulture Minister Chetan Singh Jauramajra today inaugurated Punjab’s first biofertiliser production laboratory at Horticulture Estate in Chhawni village of Hoshiarpur.

Aim is to promote organic farming

The government aims to completely reduce the use of fertilisers and pesticides in agriculture and shift farmers to organic options. This laboratory prepared at a cost of Rs 2.50 crore will help in keeping the environment pollution-free. — Chetan Singh Jauramajra, Minister

The Minister said the Punjab Government was trying to bring farmers out of the wheat and paddy crop cycle and encourage them to go for crop diversification with horticulture and other agricultural support businesses. He said the Punjab Government aimed to completely reduce the use of fertilisers and pesticides in agriculture and shift them to organic options.

He said this laboratory prepared at a cost of Rs 2.50 crore under the RKVY scheme will help in increasing the income of farmers and keeping the environment pollution-free. He said for this lab, an agreement has been signed with India’s premier research organisation ‘Akhil Bharatiya Khoj Parishad’, New Delhi, to provide technology to prepare 10 types of organic fertilisers. He said the current capacity of this lab is 30,000 litres annually, which can be increased in the future.

He said the use of chemical fertilisers can be reduced by 15 to 20 per cent with organic fertilisers prepared in it, such as agathobacter, phosphorus solubilising bacteria, etc. He said while this would directly increase the income of the farmers, the soil, water and air would also be protected from contamination. He urged farmers to take maximum advantage of the facilities provided. Deputy Speaker Jai Krishna Singh Rouri said the Punjab Government was committed to the welfare of farmers.