Gen Rodrigues stresses need for crop diversification

Chandigarh, May 8 (UNI) Punjab Governor and Administrator, Union Territory, Chandigarh, Gen. (Retd.) S.F. Rodrigues today asked a team of FICCI and EUROGAP, to play a pro-active role for boosting the crop diversification programmes in Punjab.

Interacting with Technical Director-EUROGAP, E.N. Sunder, Maj.

Gen. (Retd.) T V Manoharan of FICCI, Dr. G.S. Kalkat, Chairman, Punjab State Farmers' Commission and Dr. Manjit Singh Kang and Vice Chancellor, Panjab Agriculture University among others, Gen Rodrigues called upon them to work out holistic packages for farmers and to focus endeavour on their empowerment through progressive and supportive policies.

He said that a "certification" facility had been created, in the Punjab Agriculture University to issue certificates to farmers following EUROPGAP standards.

He said that there was a major scope for dairying and poultry in Punjab and various steps were being taken to promote these agri-related professions, as supplementary alternatives and employment generating ventures in rural areas.

The Chandigarh Administration was setting up a Modern Terminal Market for food and vegetables at Chandigarh having all modern facilities of cold storage, testing and certification lab and provision for food processing unit, he said.

The project, to be ready within next 15 months, will cater to Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir. Properly graded and packed produce will be exported to other countries directly by the farmers.

He said that milk processing facilities were also being created by setting up Milk Plant and also a Milk Village in the Union Territory, to ensure "value-added" benefit to farmers' products.

Gen Rodrigues also stressed upon the need to explore affordable water harvesting technologies and for educating the farmers to make judicious use of water, for irrigation.

UNI