Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana conferred Chief Minister awards to four livestock farmers
on the 14th of March, on the first day of Pashu Palan Mela. These awards were conferred in an impressive function by S. Gurmeet Singh Khuddian, Cabinet Minister, Punjab for Agriculture and farmers welfare, Animal Husbandry, Dairying and Fisheries in the presence of Dr. Inderjeet Singh, Vice-Chancellor, Deans, Directors and dignitaries of different institutes and organizations.
Dr. Parkash Singh Brar, Director of Extension Education said that Vet Varsity is making all out efforts for the development of the livestock sector in the state by strengthening its extension programmes. In order to motivate various categorie
s of livestock farmers, the university organizes innovative competitions by assessing the extent and impact of adoption of these technologies in improving the productivity and profitability of different livestock farming systems.
He revealed that In the buffalo category Mrs. Daljeet Kaur Toor w/o S. Gurmeet Singh Toor, village Khosa Kotla, PO Khosa Randhir, District Moga got the award. She is the first woman farmer to receive the Chief Minister Award among various livestock categories given by this university. From the traditional dairy farming, the family of Daljeet Kaur shifted outside the village and set up a modern dairy farm in 2019. She has studied up to +2 and took training from Dairy Development Centre Gill and Punjab Agricultural University in 2001. Now she has a herd of 32 Nili Ravi Buffaloes. Daily milk production is approximately 150 liters from 13 milking anim
als. Highest peak yield so far attained is 22 litres per day. She feeds silage ad lib and customized feed according to milk production. She sells the milk directly to her customers and prepares ghee also. She has kept most of the records particularly breeding records for a few generations which are of lineage from the breeds in Pakistan. The animals are kept loose and enjoy in the wallowing tank. The farm also has a gobar gas plant and slurry is used as a fertilizer in her 15 acres of agricultural land.
Mr. Rupinder Pal Singh s/o S. Jaspal Singh, village Jandwala Charat Singh, District Sri Mukatsar Sahib bestowed on the award in the fish farming category. He started fish farming in 2012 with 5 acres of land and now has increased his farms to 36 acres. This BTech graduate farmer took training from Rohtak and toured different parts of India to gain knowledge about fish farming. He gets around 2200 kg of fish per acre. He shifted
to shrimp farming in 2017 to exploit the prevailing salinity issues. He also established a shrimp hatchery with 100% survivability. He constructed a cold storage facility under PM Yojna to preserve the produce in 2021.
In Piggery category Mr. Bikramjit Singh s/o S. Paramjit Singh, village Fatehgarh Shukar Chakk, District Amritsar was decorated with the award. He is BTech in computer science and ventured into pig farming in 2016. He took training from KVK Amritsar. Now he has 20 boars, 45 sows and 600 growing piglets. He markets the live pig (125-130 kg) to eastern state of India i.e. Assam and process some portion to make different cut pieces and pickle. He makes his own feed and is fed according to age and weight basis; mortality is under 1%. He has developed a modern and comfortable shed. He has kept all the records of vaccinations, health measures and marketing. He has received various appreciation awards from district administrators.
In the goat farming category Mr. Barjinder Singh Kang s/o S. Karnail Singh Kang of Sirhind Road, Patiala achieved the award. An
MBA degree holder, went to Canada for greener pastures but returned after 3-4 years. He started goat farming in 2017 and at present possesses 4 bucks, 58 goats and 23 kids of beetle breed. His animals are stall fed only. He offers dry fodder (leaves of guava, groundnut, moong), seasonal green fodder (maize, bajra, berseem & rye grass). He prepares his own concentrate feed for different categories of animals. He regularly administers all the vaccines and mortality is less than 1.5%. He has developed his own traditional deworming recipe and tries to use ethno treatment. He markets the animals through social media. He is a member of the Goat Farming association. Around 1500 liters of milk is produced in a month with a peak yield of 3.8 liters per day.
Dr. Brar informed that these awards carry plaque, shawl, and citation along with cash.
