The Punjab government have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Monsanto Holdings Private Ltd, agricultural subsidiary of Monsanto Company, to set up a centre of excellence to promote Punjabi vegetable production.
The MoU was signed by GS Sandhu, the Financial Commissioner for Development, and Gynendra Shukla, the India region CEO of Monsanto Holdings Private Ltd.
The MoU establishes a long-term partnership and collaboration in the agricultural field for sustainable growth in Punjab. Both parties have committed partner where possible to employ their collective expertise in evaluating, developing and implementing pragmatic solutions to enhance the state’s farming productivity.
Chief Minister Prakash Singh Badal, who witnessed the signing, stated that the Punjabi government had already prepared a crop diversification plan for which the centres could play a vital role in communicating this technical knowledge and establishing coordination with farmers at a grassroots level.
Alongside the centre of excellence for vegetable production in Punjab, the MoU also established centres for the production of cotton and maize.
Badal suggested establishing similar centres for cotton production in the Bathinda district, maize production in the Doaba region and a centre for vegetable production in the Amritsar district.
