Director Agriculture Kashmir, Syed Altaf Aijaz Andrabi today said that Sithharan village will be developed as potato seed village and the vegetable will be cultivated on special lines in the village and its adjoining areas.The Director expressed these views during his extensive visit to Sithharan village and adjoining villages of Beerwah Sub- Division of district Budgam to assess the impact of various technological interventions and innovative initiatives adopted by the farmers during the current Kharif season. He said to promote potato seed production the youth of concerned area will be trained as per the procedures adopted by developed agriculture economies of the world. A lot of incentives will be provided to the farmers including training, technical guidance and special equipment of farming, he added.Director Agriculture also had an interaction with the farmers at Sithharan and gave a patient hearing to the problems being faced by them.
During the discussion, farmers raised various demands before the Director and he assured them to redress their grievances on priority.He also interacted with the extension functionaries involved in the technological dissemination and implementation of various centrally sponsored schemes and flagship programmes. He stressed upon them to work with the commitment to uplift the socio-economic conditions of the farmers in general, small and marginal farmers in particular through the adoption of the latest technology and integrated farming.Later, Director visited the farm of a national award winner farmer/ agriculture entrepreneur at Sithharan village. He asked the agriculture entrepreneur to share his experience with the farmers of the area so that they could also adopt the modern concept of farming for their economic progress.Among others, Chief Agriculture Officer Budgam Shabir Ahmad Allaqaband, Potato Development Officer Farooq Ahmad Malik, Potato Seed Inspector Rashid-ul-Hassan Koul accompanied the Director during the visit.