Minister for Agriculture, Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura, today convened a joint meeting of officers to review the overall functioning of the Agriculture department.Among others, Principal Secretary Agriculture, Sundeep Kumar Nayak, Director Agriculture Kashmir, Showkat Beigh, Joint Directors and Chief Agriculture Officers (CAOs) from all the districts were present in the meeting.The CAOs apprised the Minister about the current position of overall crop production including apiculture, mushroom cultivation and availability of fertilizers. They also brought certain issues of agriculture sector into the notice of the Minister.The meeting was informed that the state is having better crop production this year and currently a large part of vegetable production is ready for export.
Mr. Hanjura said that in this situation farmers need encouragement and assistance. He directed the concerned officers to work shoulder to shoulder with the farmers and make sure that the current situation and weather changes do not affect the crop production.The Minister also directed the concerned to make fertilizers and other necessary chemicals available to the farmers to avoid Blast and other diseases which could hamper the crop production.The Minister directed the concerned for timely distribution of quality seeds to the farmers to improve productivity. He also stressed on tapping the vegetable farming, apiculture and mushroom cultivation potential in the state. Mr. Hanjura directed the concerned officers to conduct regular field visits and take adequate steps to generate mass awareness about the programmes being implemented for welfare of the farmers.