Amity Centre for Extension Services (ACES) organized a day long Awareness cum Training Programme on “Production and Production Technology of Oilseed” sponsored by the Directorate of Rapeseed Mustard Research, The Indian Council of Agricultural Research, ICAR, Bhartpur (Rajasthan) at Amity University Noida

The training programme aimed at making farmers aware about how to increase the production and productivity of oilseeds. Over 25 farmers from Dankaur Block of District Gautam Buddha Nagar attended the Training Programme.

Dr. J. S. Chauhan, Director, Directorate of Rapeseed, Mustard Research (DRMR), Bhartpur (Raj.), Dr. B. B. Singh, ADG, Oilseed, ICAR, Krishi Bhawan, New Delhi; Sh. Manjeet Singh Chauhan, Hon’ble member of the Advisory Committee of ACES; Dr. Sunil Saran, Vice – Chairman, Amity Science Technology and Innovation Foundation and Dr. N. P. Singh- Director, ACES inaugurated the Training Programme

Sharing his views, Dr. J. S. Chauhan, Director, Directorate of Rapeseed, Mustard Research (DRMR), Bhartpur (Raj.) said that over 14,000 types of oilseeds are found in India and oilseeds and brown mustard seeds are grown in 6 states of India- in Rajasthan over 28 lakh hectares of land is used for the cultivation of oilseeds and brown mustard seeds and Rajasthan alone accounts for half of the production of oilseeds in the country. Uttar Pradesh has over 10 lakh hectare of land under oilseed cultivation. In addition to this, oilseeds are also grown in different parts of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, West Bengal and Gujarat. He expressed that oilseeds can be used for extracting mustard-oil which is used by human beings and the residual is fed to animals. “The consumption of Mustard oil has numerous benefits as far as human health is concerned. Mustard oil has low saturated fat as compared to other cooking oils. It is also loaded with essential vitamins and is extremely good for heart,” opined Dr. Chauhan

Mr. Manjeet Singh Chauhan, Hon’ble member of the Advisory Committee of ACES said that the human existence heavily depends upon agriculture and its products, as a result of which farmers will always be considered important and indispensible part of the country. Mr. Chauhan shared that Israel is a very small country but it is doing exceedingly well in agriculture and dairy farming. India should also step up its efforts to improve the state of agriculture in the country and increase the productivity of various crops

Dr. N. P. Singh- Director, ACES, while addressing the august gathering, expressed his concern over the fact that agriculture, as such, is not a lucrative option; there is lot of investment required in agriculture whereas the income generated out of it is not much, therefore, today’s youth refrain from getting into agriculture. “By introducing minor changes into agriculture, farmers can earn a lot. They can grow oilseeds along with rice or wheat; oilseeds are cash crops which involve a meager one third of investment as compared to wheat and the production of the same is over 25 quintal per hectare