The Department of Horticulture today organized one-day fruit cum vegetable show at Dharmari to bring village farmers and local orchardists close to innovative farming practices, besides spreading awareness on various schemes of the department.The event was inaugurated by MLA Gool Arnas Aijaz Ahmed Khan and MLA Gulabgarh Haji Mumtaz Ahmed Khan. They inspected more than 50 stalls of locally produced vegetables, fruits, flowers, dairy products, organic manure and mechanical tools displayed on the stalls.The people hailing from various villages including Thuroo, Pattian, Matlote, Arnas, Chinkah, Gari, Kanthi, Hunder, Chillad, Dhanour, Lasooli, Kharog, Mahore, Shajroo, Thilloo, Lancha, Budhan and Sildhar participated in the show. The orchardists interacted with the experts from horticulture who provided expertise to them regarding different pathological and entomological problems of fruit crops in the field. They also suggested some traditional methods to grow organic crops and fruit plants.The department also distributed publicity material including booklets, farmer diaries, banners, pamphlets and posters related to methods and crop growing techniques among the farmers. Some farmers purchased modern agricultural tools from the department on subsidized rates.
The farmers were educated about various schemes including Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY), Sub Mission for Agriculture Mechanization (SMAM), Prime Minister Development Package (PMDP) and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY).Speaking on the occasion, MLA Gool Arnas lauded the efforts of horticulture department in organizing such mega programmes in remote areas. He said that such events not only give firsthand knowledge of the departments but also encourage youth to take up farming for earning their livelihood. Mumtaz Khan, while addressing the gathering, said the farmers of the hilly areas are not educated enough for coming close to the modern schemes of departments and thus, it is need of the hour to launch massive awareness programmes and door to door visits by various departments in such backward areas. Among others, SDM Mahore Yaseen Chowdhary, Chief Horticulture Officer V.K Gupta, HDOs and various officers of the Agriculture, Horticulture and other allied sectors were present on the occasion.