No seminars, Punjab farmers learn techniques on social media

Raj Sadosh

Abohar, June 24

As the departments of agriculture and horticulture have not been able to organise seminars due to Covid restrictions, farmers are getting connected through social media for advice on new techniques in vegetable and fruit growing.

Tejinder Singh, Deputy Director, Horticulture Department, said 13 WhatsApp groups launched to benefit the farmers got a good response. A survey conducted by the government indicated fruit orchards covering 33,948 hectares have come up in Fazilka district. “Due to the pandemic, training camps are not being held, but the department is trying to keep the farmers informed through social media. Farmers are advised to get soil and leaf tested at the state-of-the-art laboratory that has been set up at the Citrus Estate in Abohar.”

Recently, farmers joined the two-hour online camps organised by the Punjab Agriculture University. Today, some experts visited orchards in Abohar to resolve the issues raised by farmers.

A study by PAU scientists indicated kinnow fruit drop starts soon after flowering and leads to falling of small fruits. This is due to natural overproduction and not of much concern to the grower. Fruit drop leads to reduction of excess load on trees. The second wave of fruit drop commences approximately one to two months after bloom, young developing fruit abscise from trees with excessive fruit set in May, consisting of about 10 per cent of the total dropped fruits, the study indicates.

Jagdev Singh Brar, who now prefers to grow vegetables and fruits in his Daulatpura village farms, said kinnow fruit produce might be 20 to 25 per cent less than that of the last year, which saw a bumper crop but prices nosedived due to glut.