Pameti starts new diploma in farm services

Ludhiana: A one-year Diploma in Agricultural Extension Services for Input Dealers (Daesi) was inaugurated by chief guest Sangram Singh, deputy registrar (DR), Department of Cooperation (Ludhiana) at Punjab Agricultural Management & Extension Training Institute (Pameti), PAU Campus, Ludhiana on Tuesday. S Balwinder Singh, chief agriculture officer (CAO), Ludhiana, was the guest of honour. Assistant registrar, Department of Cooperation, Ludhiana; and agriculture officer (Ludhiana) also graced the occasion.
Pameti director HS Dhaliwal extended a warm welcome to all participants and explained the importance of agricultural education to input dealers and staff of societies, which will transform them into para-extension personnel.
Pameti deputy director-HRM Rupinder Kaur, while explaining the objective of the programme, said agri-input dealers were a primary source of information to the farming community, besides the supply of inputs. But a majority of these dealers did not have formal agricultural education. Therefore, National Institute of Agricultural Extension Management (Manage), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Government of India, has launched this location-specific diploma, which will facilitate them to serve farmers better.
RK Kalra (retired professor and head, Department of Extension Education, PAU), facilitator for Daesi programme, explained the course curriculum and guidelines in detail. She said technical information would be delivered through contact classes and field visits by agricultural experts and practitioners on Saturdays for 48 days spread over a year.
Balwinder Singh shared some examples where trained input dealers from previous batches were helping farmers with their acquired knowledge. Sangram Singh congratulated Pameti for starting the programme, and lauded its efforts for upgradation of technical competency of input dealers. He motivated participants to actively participate during classes and acquire knowledge from scientists/experts as much as possible. He exhorted the need for more such programmes in other districts also.