SKUAST-J will soon be premier agricultural institution: Chief Secretary

Jammu, Nov 21: The five day long Krishak mela 2022, organized by Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) Jammu, concluded here Monday with Chief Secretary, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta, chairing the valedictory ceremony.
The Chief Secretary interacted with the farmers, entrepreneurs, startups and the visitors of the event. He appreciated the efforts of the University for organizing such a mega event which was a blend of ideas, knowledge, innovation and entertainment.
Chief Secretary, while addressing the gathering, was optimistic that SKUAST Jammu will be one of the leading and premier agricultural institutions of the country in the coming years. He termed the event as youthful live mela with active involvement of students not only from SKUAST Jammu but from the nearby colleges and schools.
Dr Mehta appealed the students and scientists for taking the technology generated in the laboratory to the farmer’s fields for enhanced productivity. He motivated the farmers’ to adopt technologies generated by the university to increase their income.
Chief Secretary informed that the target of rejuvenating 75 Amrit Sarovars in every district has been successfully achieved in a record time. He felicitated the panchayats which have rejuvenated the community ponds of their area besides honouring the best maintained lawns, parks and roof gardens of Jammu.
He also felicitated Barbi panchayat of Jammu district, Smailpur panchayat of Samba district, Gara panchayat of Kathua district and Mari panchayat of Reasi/ Udhampur district as best in the category of community ponds. He also awarded Graint, Kiank Jagir of Jammu, Badhori and Patti of Samba, Merath and Rasoh of Kathua, Lehnu and Panthal of Reasi/Udhampur.
Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Agriculture Production Department, Atal Dulloo, congratulated the Vice Chancellor, Professor J P Sharma for successful completion of mela as it was an amalgamation of diverse institutes, universities, development departments, banks, NABARD, schools and colleges who exhibited their technologies and products.
ACS described the mela as an ideal platform for startups, FPOs and SHGs to showcase their products. He exhorted upon the scientists to formulate their research in such a way that the farmers get benefit from them and sustain their livelihood through meticulous adoption of these technologies. He also mentioned that during the recent apex committee meeting, it has been decided that a pool of researchers will be constituted and the Post Graduate students of the University shall be encouraged to serve farming community.
Dulloo informed that Kisan Khidmat Centers are actively instrumental in the UT for providing all type of services and technical support to the farmers. He hoped that in the near future these will serve as one stop shop for the farming community.
Speaking on the occasion, Vice Chancellor, SKUAST Jammu expressed satisfaction over successful completion of 5 day long Krishak Mela. He conveyed gratitude to the farmers, agri-preneurs, NGO’s, government departments, KVK’s, research stations, startups, different divisions of the University, private companies and other stakeholders for their support and active participation in the event.
He informed the house that during the five day long mela, products and technologies were displayed on 265 stalls and 14,000 visitors attended the event.
Dr. M J Khan, Chairman, Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture, informed that, as per ADB report, India shall be the biggest global economy by 2050.
On the occasion, Memorandums of Understanding between Indian Chamber of Food and Agriculture and SKUAST Jammu as well as between Manu Krishi and SKUAST-Jammu were signed.
During the mela, rural sports were organized including kabaddi, tug of war, long jump, volley ball etc. Faculty, students, non-teaching staff, farmers and general public participated enthusiastically in the events. The cultural programmes were also organized during the mela.
During the concluding day, awards in different categories were also distributed among the winners. Publications by the scientists were also released by the dignitaries.