Game Changer
Agriculture and horticulture sectors can be the game changers in Jammu and Kashmir if the farmers will adapt the new techniques and get the better equipment and machines of farming so that they produce more and get the better prices in the markets.
Recently LG Manoj Sinha said that the farmers should adopt new ways like cash crops, intercropping along with traditional agriculture for the steady increase in farm income.
On the interventions made by the J&K Government to strengthen Farm Mechanization, he observed that the government is setting up Custom Hiring Centers and Farm Machinery Banks in different parts of the UT. As many as 151 Custom Hiring Centers and 122 Farm Machinery Banks have also been started so far.
Making strides in transforming the agricultural sector, the Government has set the target of providing 500 tractors to the farmers. Similarly, we had decided to provide threshers to panchayats for harvesting of paddy and maize. As many as 1147 threshers were given earlier and sanction letters for 1035 are being issued.
He underscored the interventions made by the government for the promotion of the local products. Now NAFED will sell Kashmir’s Saffron at all its outlets across the country, thereby providing another option to the farmers to sell their produce at attractive prices.
Apart from Saffron, J&K is number one in the whole country in the production of Apple, Walnut and Almond, and I hope that the upcoming industries in the food processing sector will help the farmer’s income to grow manifold in the coming days.
