Charanjit Singh Teja

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, August 6

A marginal farmer Gurmeet Singh from Madhu Shanga village has been setting an example for others by cultivating organic crops.

Initially, Gurmeet began by adopting the technique for domestic use and subsequently stopped using chemical fertilizer, insecticides and pesticides with the passage of time. Then the government agriculture agencies came to know of his interest in the organic farming and motivated him to grow the organic crops for commercial use. For the past two years, Gurmeet Singh is growing the organic Basmati in his fields at Madhu Shanga village.

“Initially, I adopted organic farming in one-acre land and will increase it depending upon the demand for crop in the market. The agricultural experts have been supporting me for non-chemical farming. In order to minimise the pesticide residues and for enhancing its export, the regional office of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) set a field demonstration in my field,” said Gurmeet. The project emphasised on the use of non-chemical methods and biological methods for management of insect pests.

“The agricultural experts are laying stress on not using banned insecticides which causes residue problem and hence puts hurdle in the basmati export. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) experts have provided pheromone traps for catching adults of stem borer. They provided the cards to breed the farmer friendly insects in the crop. I have sprayed only neem oil and other herbal products,” he added.

“The pesticides cause health hazards and hence their use should be minimised. The experts from KVK, PAU and NABARD often visit and train us to identify the nature of damage, symptoms and management of various insect pests in basmati crop. Dr Narinderpal Singh from KVK also shared tips on marketing of organic basmati. The organic produce needs separate market chain as there is no separate stall in the ordinary markets,” he said. 

Growing organic basmati in his fields

Initially, Gurmeet began by adopting the technique for domestic use and subsequently stopped using chemical fertilizer, insecticides and pesticides with the passage of time. Then the government agriculture agencies came to know of his interest in organic farming and motivated him to grow the organic crops for commercial use. For the past two years, Gurmeet Singh has been growing the organic basmati in his fields at Madhu Shanga village.