Nabha, March 23: India, the second largest producer of vegetables in the world, loses Rs 30,000 crore every year as 25 per cent of the produce gets damaged because of poor and unscientific storage. This was disclosed by Dr Manjit Singh Kang, vice-chancellor, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, on Friday at a state-level function organised at the vegetable farmland of a progressive farmer Meharban Singh in nearby Sahauli by the National Horticulture and Research Organisation under the National Horticulture Mission.

He said excessive use of fertilizers and pesticides by farmers had a disastrous effect on the soil, water and air and these were being increasingly polluted. He asked them to adopt a judicious and scientific approach.

He advised farmers to opt for the proven and time-tested methods like net-house and low-tunnel technologies. The use of vermicompost and neem (azidirecta indica) were the best in the category of fertilizers and pesticides. He said farmers in parts of the state got bumber crops of cucumber, tomato and capsicum with the use of these technologies.

Director, Horticulture Department, Punjab, Dr Baldev Singh highlighted the subsidies being given to farmers by the department.