LAHORE: A number of capacity building workshops were conducted by Rice Partners Pvt Ltd (RPL) in collaboration with Swiss Intercooperation and MARS food within the previous months across the villages of the Sheikhupura district.
More than 12,000 farmers were capacitated on precision laser leveling, water productivity, crop management, water-efficient techniques, crop management and sustainable rice production (SRP). Different aspects of SRP were also discussed by the facilitators during the training workshops.
Addressing the farmers, Dr Riaz Mann, a senior advisor to the RPL said that laser leveling helped in improving irrigation efficiency and conserved water. “Land laser leveling helps to operate agricultural machinery at higher speeds across leveled fields,” he added.
Waqas A Khan, a renowned trainer and journalist said that it was time for rice growers to focus on latest rice cultivation technologies. “Adoption of latest cultivation technologies will reduce their cost of production and will also reduce the impact on the planet,” he said and added that following safety instruction while using pesticides on crops was very important. He also urged the farmers to enroll their kids in schools.
Sonia Farid, an educationist and Samia Mubashar, a renowned trainer also addressed the farmers and urged them to respect women and engage them in decision making.
