The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) has sanctioned a project entitled “Establishment of Pashu Palak Tele-Advisory Kendra at GADVASU, Ludhiana” to Guru Angad Dev Veterinary & Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana. Dr. Inderjeet Singh, Vice-Chancellor, GADVASU inaugurated this centre along with Dr. Rajiv Siwach, Chief General Manager, NABARD, Chandigarh.
Director of Extension Education, GADVASU, Dr. Parkash Singh Brar welcomed the participants and briefed them about functioning of the project. Dr. Rajiv Siwach highlighted the need of such projects in meeting with the uncertainties of livestock farmers viz. climate change, weather linked insurance, artificial insemination, fodder production etc. Mentioning about the earlier collaborations of National Bank for Agr-culture and Rural Development with GADVASU, he said that NABARD will always be cooperating with the vet varsity in future for such innovative and utilitarian projects for the farming community.
He added that in recent Coronavirus pandemic, such projects will be of great use to the livestock farmers wherein they can dial-in for obtaining need-based scientific information.
Dr. Inderjeet Singh underlined the role of extension service delivery among the livestock farmers of Punjab. He said that telecommunication will establish strong linkage between the farmers and the University all around Punjab. Dr Singh told that the call center facility of GADVASU will provide impetus to livestock farming in information deficit areas and linking the centre to a Mobile App will further increase its utility.
He added that the establishment of call centre will motivate farmers to adopt scientific livestock practices, thus, leading to enhancement in overall livestock production.
The inaugural ceremony was attended by officers of both - NABARD and GADVASU through virtual meeting. Dr. R.K. Sharma, Principal Investigator of the project gave official vote of thanks and said that Pashu Palak Tele-Advisory Kendra will be operationalized within a month.
Until then, for any query, livestock farmers can contact Farmer Information Centre of the University at 0161-2414026.
