LUDHIANA: A group of seven Nuffield farming scholars from
New Zealand,
Brazil, Australia,
Netherlands and the US visited Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (Gadvasu) on Saturday. The group was received by Gadvasu placement-cum-liaison officer Dr Amarjit Singh. He welcomed the scholars and apprised them of the university setup, its academic programmes and facilities for teaching and research.
Director of research Dr J P S Gill informed the delegation about the various ongoing research programmes and extension activities related to dairy farming, pig farming, goat farming etc. conducted by the university for farmers. In their visit to the College of Dairy Science and Technology, Nuffield scholars interacted with the college faculty to understand the scenario of milk production and processing in Punjab.
During a discussion, it was emphasized that with high milk production in the state, the trend of manufacturing western dairy products like various varieties of cheese is catching up in the Punjab too. The delegation was happy to learn that the college is already working towards imparting cheese-making training to farmers of Punjab.
Dr A K Puniya, dean of College of Dairy Science and Technology, interacted with the scholars about various research projects running in the college as well as the number of training programmes which are conducted for dairy farmers. He further added that various awareness camps and fairs are organized by the university to develop a connect with dairy farmers. Literature in regional language related to milk processing and quality assurance is also available to farmers at every fair and camp.
The delegation visited milk testing laboratory to see facilities provided by the college for milk and milk product testing. The scholars also visited the Experimental Dairy Plant which is instrumental in training dairy graduates as well as dairy farmers. After the visit, the group members expressed that their visit to Gadvasu was an excellent learning experience.