Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar hosts Engagement Session on Punjab’s Agricultural Landscape
Ropar, August 8, 2024:
The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Ropar, in collaboration with its Technology and Innovation Foundation (iHub - AWaDH), named Agriculture and Water Technology Development Hub (AWaDH) under the framework of National Mission on Interdisciplinary Cyber Physical Systems (NMICPS), Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, hosted a pivotal engagement session focused on "Punjab’s Agricultural Landscape."The event featured Ten MLA’s of punjab and other dignitaries
The session began with a welcome address by Dr. Pushpendra Pal Singh, Dean of R&D at IIT Ropar, followed by an introductory address by Prof. Rajeev Ahuja, Director of IIT Ropar, who emphasized the institute’s role in shaping the future of agriculture in Punjab. Special addresses were delivered by Mr. Anil Vij, Additional Secretary of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, and other notable participants, including MLA Sarvan Singh Dhun (Chairman of the Committee of Agriculture), Barinder Kumar Goyal Vakeel, Fauja Singh, Gurdit Singh Sekhon, Jagtar Singh Diyalpura, Manpreet Singh Ayali, and Ranbir Singh, along with Shri Narendra Singh, Joint Director of Plant Protection Punjab. The session covered several key points: extending new technologies and practices from IIT to farmers in collaboration with the Punjab government, understanding the challenges faced by farmers to develop new technologies, improving the visibility of IIT's technologies and research through media, introducing technologies to MLAs to disseminate them to farmers, discussing crop diversification and groundwater depletion, minimizing the use of fertilizers and pesticides, working with farmer leaders to deploy technologies at the ground level, skilling Punjab's youth in AI for agriculture, supporting agri and water domain startups, and organizing future workshops for agricultural department officers to demonstrate these technologies. This event aimed to unite key stakeholders from the agricultural sector to strategize on enhancing
This session underscores IIT Ropar’s commitment to leveraging technology for sustainable agricultural practices and fostering collaborations to benefit Punjab’s agricultural sector. The event promises to be a significant step towards addressing the challenges and opportunities in modern agriculture.