Australian high commissioner's visit to BISA farm at Ladhowal, Ludhiana and Climate Smart Village, Nurpur Bet
Harinder Sidhu, Australian High Commissioner, visited the Borlaug Institute for South Asia (BISA) in Ladhowal, Ludhiana, India on February 19. Arun Joshi, Managing Director for BISA & CIMMYT in India, welcomed her with an introduction about the creation, mission, and activities of BISA and the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT). HS Sidhu, the Senior Research Engineer for BISA, explained the work CIMMYT and BISA were conducting in conservation agriculture in collaboration with Punjab Agricultural University, machinery manufacturers and farmers. This work focuses on using and scaling the Happy Seeder, which enables direct seeding of wheat into heavy loads of rice residue without burning. This technology has been called "an agricultural solution to air pollution in South Asia," as the burning of crop residue is a huge contributor to poor air quality in South Asia.
He explained recent improvements in the technology, such as the addition of a straw management systems to add extra functionality, which has led ...