JK aspires to be leading region in agriculture, horticulture production in country: Lt Governor

Jammu, Jul 14: Continuing the Government’s endeavours to realize Prime Minister’s goal of doubling the income of farmers by 2022, Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha launched the Horticulture Week by planting saplings at Akhnoor Wednesday.
The Horticulture Week (14th – 20th July, 2021) in the UT shall focus on the broad contours of initiating massive Plantation Drives, taking objective steps in Nursery Development, promoting Mechanization among the farming community, Creation of Water Sources, Human Resource Development through training and strengthening the Post Harvest Management with the overall mission of doubling the farmers’ income in the Union Territory.
The Lt Governor observed that the government has set an unprecedented target of planting 25 lakh high-density plants this year as compared to 49,000 in the year 2019, which is a new record in the history of horticulture of Jammu division.
In addition t, another 1.20 crore plants of Aloe Vera and 42 lakh plants of strawberry shall also be planted, besides 67,500 plants of Olive will be planted in Ramban and Doda districts covering around 270 Ha, this year.
He also laid the e-foundation stone for a 100-acre Mega High Density Plantation Nursery coming up at Chakroi, RS Pura, besides launching the ‘Jammu Horticulture Mobile App’ and ‘Parvaz’, a market linkage scheme for the benefit of farmers.
Speaking on the occasion, the Lt Governor outlined various initiatives taken by the government to facilitate the farming community and extending handholding to the farmers through different government schemes with a prime objective of increasing their income so that they can lead a prosperous life.
Horticulture has now become the backbone of the economy of Jammu and Kashmir. From the state-of-the-art machinery to new plants, water supply resources for farming, training, expansion of the area of high-density plantation, many innovative measures have been taken in the past one year and many more are in the pipeline for the future deliverables aiming at growth of the farming sector, added the Lt Governor.
Laying special emphasis on promoting best practices in the horticulture sector, the Lt Governor observed that significant improvement has been registered in farm productivity and production quality in the last eleven months due to exchange of knowledge and ideas in the said sector.
The Lt Governor expressed satisfaction over the strides made in Agriculture and Horticulture to fulfill Hon’ble Prime Minister’s goal of doubling the income of farmers by 2022. In many areas of Jammu division, the farmers have already accomplished this goal ahead of time with their hard work, he added.
Speaking on J&K being amongst one of the top 5 performers in the country in the ‘One District One Product’ campaign, the Lt Governor credited the farmers of the UT and officials of the concerned departments for this achievement.
Despite the challenges of Covid pandemic, our farmers have done a wonderful job and many youths who were hesitant to foray into the sector are now doing different types of organic farming and have set an example for others by their hard work. Even in these difficult times, there was no shortage of vegetables, fruits, and milk and the gap between cities and villages has also reduced, the Lt Governor observed.
Stressing on the need to acquaint farmers with all the relevant information and latest farming techniques, the Lt Governor observed that the Central government through its 64 schemes in the field of horticulture is providing subsidies up to 50 to 100% to the farmers in different components. Department’s officials have been constantly reaching out to the farmers and making them aware of the benefits of these schemes, he added.
Underlining the importance of putting more focus on branding and marketing, the Lt Governor called for making modern farming practices an integral part of the farming sector to bring stability in the horticulture sector and work according to the latest market trends.
This will also benefit the farmers and the local population by generating employment in the food products manufactured by the rural entrepreneurs. Through branding and marketing, we will also be able to contribute to self-reliant India campaign, he added. The Lt Governor advised the farmers and all those associated with the farming sector to do new experiments in agriculture and pay attention to diversification. He also assured the support of the administration in their endeavours. “There will be no shortage of resources or guidance for the farming community”, he added.