woman on the first day of kisan mela on thursday for excellence in agriculture and allied occupationsbir dalwinder singh of kalar majari village patiala district will be conferred with the dalip singh dhaliwal memorial award 2018 for carving a niche in agriculture an mtech in computer science singh is practising farming on 18 acres of land giving up the traditional paddywheat cycle he is cultivating wheat paddy potato summer moong and sunflower crops successfully and getting good economic returns he also conserves water by using pau recommended paddy varieties and motivates other farmers as well to sow early maturing less water requiring paddy varieties he never indulges in stubble burning and uses happy seeder technology for incorporation of residue in the soil which further improves soil health he has been honoured by the punjab government for not burning paddy straw in the fieldgurpreet singh of village patti sadeek fazilka district will also bestowed with the same award for excellence in agriculture after completing his ma and bed he adopted agriculture as a profession and is presently carrying out farm operations on 30 acres including 15 acres of ancestral land he grows wheat chickpea and sarson in addition to kinnow on 10 acres of land the adoption of subsidiary occupations such as dairy and fish farming is giving him a monetary benefit of rs 1 lakh he also uses laser land leveller drip irrigation and other technologies and consults pau experts for technical guidancefor scaling new heights in farming narpinder singh of chuharchak village moga district will be conferred with the surjit singh dhillon award 2018 narpinder is into the cultivation of turmeric sugarcane wheat and vegetables on oneacre land for the last 25 years he contributes to the protection of environment by growing crops without using agrochemicals and has also planted 5060 trees he has adopted subsidiary occupations such as beekeeping mushroom cultivation and dairy farming after acquiring training from pau and punjab dairy development department a member of the progressive beekeepers association pa national bee board punjab beekeeper welfare association and natural farming organization singh is a selfcultivating small farmer who has visited several foreign countries to update his knowledgemaking strides agriculture through diversification harinder singh riar of bhamri village gurdaspur district who is a 32yearold graduate carries out farm operations on 80 acres of land including 35 acres on lease he will be presented the parvasi bharti award 2018 at the pau kisan mela he has laid down underground water pipes to conserve water and uses zero till drill and happy seeder for wheat sowing besides practising intercropping of wheatsugarcane he also grows gobhi sarsonsugarcane paddy chickpea lentil sweet potato etc he has set up a net house on 2 kanal area and rents out farm machinery to the farmers he is active on social media and remains in contact with scientists farmers and market dealers through whatsapp and facebookrajinder kaur of village chatta nanhera in sangrur district will be given the state awardee sardarni jagbir kaur memorial