Kisan-Vaigyanik Sangoshthi

What is Kisan-Vaigyanik Sangoshthi?

Kisan-Vaigyanik Sangoshthi: literally "farmer-scientist seminar": is a farmer-scientist interaction programme run by G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUAT), Pantnagar, the state agricultural university of Uttarakhand. Through its Directorate of Extension Education, the university brings farmers and rural youth face to face with agricultural scientists to share modern, science-based farming and animal husbandry practices, including biotechnology-based methods.

The purpose is practical two-way exchange. Scientists explain new crop varieties, improved practices, mechanisation and emerging technology; farmers, in turn, raise the real problems they face in their fields and farms so that research and advice stay grounded in local needs. GBPUAT organises such interactions as part of its wider extension work, which includes Kisan Melas, exhibitions, on-farm demonstrations and training for farmers, farm women and rural youth.

Kisan-Vaigyanik Sangoshthi is not a cash benefit. No money is paid to participants. What a farmer gains is free access to expertise, exposure to the latest agricultural technology, and answers to specific questions: from choosing the right variety to soil-test-based fertiliser use, water-saving techniques and scientific animal husbandry.

What happens at a Kisan-Vaigyanik Sangoshthi?

At these interactions, GBPUAT scientists and farmers typically:

• Discuss modern and biotechnology-based farming, improved varieties, crop management, and scientific animal husbandry.
• Address farmers' field problems directly, with scientists suggesting practical solutions.
• Promote good practices such as crop rotation, soil-test-based fertiliser application, and water-saving methods for natural resource conservation.
• Showcase technology: exhibition stalls, mechanisation implements, tractors and, increasingly, tools like drones for farming.

These interactions are often held around the university's Kisan Melas and through its network of Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs).

Who can take part in Kisan-Vaigyanik Sangoshthi?

You can attend if:

• You are a farmer, farm woman or rural youth in Uttarakhand.
• You are interested in adopting modern, science-based farming or animal husbandry practices.

The programme is deliberately open and aimed at spreading technology widely, so there is no income test or landholding requirement to attend an interaction or Kisan Mela.

Who cannot apply / is not eligible for a benefit under it:

• A person seeking a cash instalment, subsidy or loan cannot apply here, because Kisan-Vaigyanik Sangoshthi pays no money. It is technical guidance only, and a farmer wanting a cash transfer is looking at the wrong scheme.
• There is no online enrolment or standing beneficiary list, so a farmer outside Uttarakhand or one who cannot reach the university's events or a local KVK is, in practice, not eligible to take part in a given sangoshthi until the next event is announced near them.

Within its own purpose the programme excludes nobody: any farmer, farm woman or rural youth who reaches a scheduled interaction can join free of charge, with no income test or landholding requirement.

How to apply to take part in Kisan-Vaigyanik Sangoshthi

Participation is arranged through the university and is free:

1. Contact the GBPUAT Directorate of Extension Education at Pantnagar, or your nearest Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), to ask when the next sangoshthi, farmer-scientist interaction or Kisan Mela is scheduled.
2. Register your name and mobile number so you can be informed of the date, venue and theme.
3. Attend on the notified date, take part in the discussion, and raise your own field or livestock problems with the scientists present.

Your local agriculture office and KVK can also tell you about upcoming university extension events in your district.

Why this programme matters

Kisan-Vaigyanik Sangoshthi bridges the gap between agricultural research and the farmer's field. For hill and plains farmers in Uttarakhand alike, direct conversation with scientists at Pantnagar is a fast way to learn about new varieties, mechanisation and biotechnology, and to get trusted answers rather than relying on informal advice. Because it is delivered as an event-based extension activity, its scale and frequency depend on the university's annual extension calendar.

How does it fit with the university's wider extension work?

Kisan-Vaigyanik Sangoshthi is one strand of GBPUAT's broader extension mandate. The university's Directorate of Extension Education plans and organises trainings and visit programmes for farmers, farm women, rural youth and other stakeholders, and its Krishi Vigyan Kendras carry technology to the district level. Farmer interactions and Kisan Melas at Pantnagar have, in past years, drawn farmers to see exhibition stalls, mechanisation implements and tractors, and to discuss priority issues such as new varieties, mechanisation and future use of drone technology for productivity and ecological sustainability. At these events scientists have urged farmers to adopt crop rotation, soil-test-based fertiliser application and water-saving technologies.

For a farmer, the practical value of treating Kisan-Vaigyanik Sangoshthi as part of this wider system is that missing one event is not a lost opportunity. The same technology and advice are also available through the KVKs, trainings and demonstrations the university runs year-round. Keeping in touch with the nearest KVK is the surest way to stay informed.

How does it connect to the Pantnagar Kisan Mela?

Kisan-Vaigyanik Sangoshthi is most often held alongside the university's flagship event, the All-India Farmers' Fair and Agro-Industrial Exhibition, popularly called the Kisan Mela. According to GBPUAT's Directorate of Extension Education, the Kisan Mela is held twice a year at Pantnagar — once before the rabi season and once before the kharif season, so that advice reaches farmers at the exact point they are planning the next crop. Around 350 agro-industrial and agribusiness firms dealing in farm machinery, fertiliser, agro-chemicals and seed take part, and every Krishi Vigyan Kendra under the university, along with its women's self-help groups, showcases technologies and products.

For a farmer, the sangoshthi is the discussion strand of this larger fair. You can walk the exhibition to compare implements and inputs, watch live demonstrations, and then sit in the farmer-scientist seminar to raise a specific problem. A diseased crop, a poor-yielding variety, a livestock health issue, and get a direct answer from a subject specialist. Attending a mela is therefore the single easiest way to catch a sangoshthi without waiting for a separate announcement.

What should a farmer prepare before attending?

Because there is no form to fill, preparation is practical rather than documentary. Note down the exact field problems you want answered, carry a sample if you can, a diseased leaf, an insect, a soil sample for a soil-health query, and bring your mobile number so the KVK can add you to alerts for future events. Farm women and rural youth are specifically encouraged to attend, and travelling in a group from a village makes it easier for the KVK to arrange a follow-up demonstration in your own area afterwards.

Where do I get help?

• Directorate of Extension Education, GBPUAT, Pantnagar; gbpuat.ac.in/directorates/Extension_Edu, which plans the university's farmer training and interaction programmes.
• Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) linked to GBPUAT in various districts.
• G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, gbpuat.ac.in for general information and contacts.

As this is an event-based extension programme rather than a standing cash scheme, farmers should confirm the schedule of the next interaction with the university or their local KVK. The nearest KVK is also the best channel for follow-up after a sangoshthi: it can arrange an on-farm demonstration, supply improved seed or planting material developed by the university, and connect a farmer to specific scientists for a continuing problem. Treating the sangoshthi as the start of a relationship with the KVK, rather than a one-day event, is how farmers in Uttarakhand get the most lasting value from the programme.