The Panjab Cabinet approved the Seeds (Punjab Amendment) Bill, 2025, to make the sale of spurious seeds a non-bailable offence. A spokesperson for the Chief Minister’s Office said there had been no amendment to Section 19 of the Seeds Act, 1966, since its inception, due to which the fine and penalties had no deterrence. So the Cabinet gave the nod to amend the Act and insert Section 19A for the contravention of Section 7, enhancing the fine and penalty for spurious seeds, besides making it a cognizable and non-bailable offence. In other news, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana, has secured the 93rd rank in Agricultural Sciences in the EduRank 2025 list of the world’s top 100 agricultural institutions. Among 4,407 institutions worldwide assessed in this category, PAU is the only state agricultural university from India to feature on the list. On 21 Jul, PAU demonstrated its Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)-based auto-steering system for tractors with a live demonstration at its research farm. The tractor, with a cultivator attached, moved through the farm creating furrows, navigating turns and bends with ease. In a statement, PAU said, 'With manual steering, field implements like disc harrow, cultivator, and rotavator showed overlaps between 3-12%. With the auto-steering system, these overlaps dropped to about 1%. Missed areas reduced from 2-7% to under 1%.' Meanwhile, a quiet Blue Revolution is taking place in Panjab. Since 2020-21, Panjab’s fish production has increased by over 35K tonnes, worth USD 57M, while the total production amounts to over 200K tonnes, worth USD 345M. In 2024, Sukhjeet Kaur, a farmer from Ransih Kalan village in Moga district, began fish farming in 4.5 acres of pond. In her very first season, she sold fish worth nearly USD 8K. The Guru Nanak Cooperative Society, comprising 11 members, has developed fish ponds over 20 acres in Faridkot’s Machaki Mal Singh village—an area known for waterlogging. 'We started this initiative in a region where agriculture was becoming unviable. Fish farming has turned that challenge into an opportunity,' said Mandeep Singh, secretary of the society (earlier coverage).
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