NewZNew (Chandigarh/Punjab/Haryana) : CII Experts interacting with farmers at ‘Kisan Goshthees’ currently underway at CII Agro Tech 2014, Chandigarh believe that new age farming techniques like Organic Farming, Fish farming and use of Solar Energy for Agriculture is the need of the hour.

Organised to educate farmers on various farming issues which help them in enhancing agricultural productivity, the ‘Kisan Goshthees’ event on the second day today hosted 3 sessions – a session on Organic Farming and Reducing Pesticide Usage, session on Use of Solar Energy for Agriculture and a Session on Fish Farming.

Interacting with the farmers from across the country here to attend the Agro Tech 2014, the experts shared a forward-looking vision and interacted on avenues of Reduced Pesticide Use and Organic Farming, Solar Energy and Fish Farming which are believed to be the standout techniques of the future of Indian agricultural sector.

In the first session, Dr. M K Paliwal, Assistant Director, Regional Center for Organic Farming, Principal Scientist, Indian Agriculture Research Institute, speaking on organic farming said, “It is important that the best practices of organic farming are taken to the farmers and are informed of the various aspects that may hurt their productivity in the long run. Agriculture Production through Sustainable and Renewable means and Free from all kind of Chemicals is the way forward and in order to ensure healthy future, it will be important to engage in the practices related to the natural farming.”

On the subject of Reducing Pesticide Usage, Mr. Yudhvir Singh, Principal Scientist, Indian Agriculture Research Institute, said “Chemicals Infest crops and reduce yields, reducing overall agricultural production and food security. Finding new methods to get rid of pests without requiring chemical inputs has increasingly become a priority for many farmers. Organic farming is not only healthiest for people and environment, but also turn agriculture outputs into the natural pesticides.”

In the second session on Solar Energy Mr.­­­­­­­­­ Balour Singh, representing Punjab Energy Department said “It is important to understand the difference that solar energy practices brings in. For instance, solar dryer is in a way better than open sun, ensuring less time, cost and better yield further benefitting the farmers. In fact solar dryer allows farmers to store the products for much longer. The government provides 30% subsidy on all solar products, again a plus for the deserving farmers.”

In the post lunch session on Fish Farming and its future prospects, Mr. Sukhwinder Singh Walia, Assistant Director Fisheries, Director & Warden of Fisheries Punjab, said, “India is blessed with large number of rivers, lakes and many natural water resources, offering great opportunities to the farmers. Various types of fast growing fish species are available. Farming those fast growing fish species ensure rapid returns of your investment. Demand of fish is increasing in accordance with population growth and the demand will increase even more in near future. So there is a good opportunity of earning and employment from fish farming business. Various efforts are being made in terms of subsidies to further encourage fish farming in the country.”

Talking about the importance of Solar Energy in transforming the lives of farmers, Rishi Chouhan from the Solar Department of Kirloskar said, “Solar Energy is the future of agriculture as it is amongst the biggest resource of energy available today. Solar Energy allows farmers to increase productivity all through the year, and thus contribute to nation building. Our Solar products are generating huge response amongst the visitors and this gives me great confidence for the future.”

Avtar Singh, a farmer from Amritsar says, “Solar Energy is something that I am very excited to invest into. I understand that this is a huge one-time investment, but I also understand that this is the opportunity of the future. I would urge all my farmer brothers to give a shot to Solar Energy as this is an avenue which will see the most adoption in the coming times.”

Apart from ‘Kisan Goshthees’, The CII Agro Tech 2014 will also feature International Conferences on Horticulture Value Chain, Animal Husbandry, Innovations in Agriculture, World View of India as a Food Basket and Food Processing, Storage & Distribution; and Country specific Session on ‘Business Opportunities in Africa & Interactive Session with German Agriculture and Dairy Companies.