Agriculture Minister Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura Saturday took a detailed review to assess the preparedness for ensuing Rabi seasons here at a meeting of the Chief Agriculture Officers, Sectoral Heads of schemes, Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officers and Field Functionaries of the department. The Minister reviewed the supply and stocking of various inputs including seeds and fertilizers for the Rabi Crop season. He also took stock of progress and achievements during Kharif 2017 under various schemes and programmes meant for the welfare of farmers. He also took stock of measures being taken to cope up with the prolonged dry spell conditions which has resulted in delay of sowing of Rabi season of crops.
The meeting also assessed the implementation of Prime Ministers Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), Prime Ministers Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture (NMSA), National Food Security Mission (NFSM), Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana (RKVY) , Soil Health Card Scheme (SCHS) and National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) .The Minister asked the departmental functionaries to work towards realizing the national goal of doubling the income of the farmers by the year 2022. He directed the officers to shift their focus from being production centric to income centric .
Hanjura stressed upon the officers to adhere to the directions and guidelines of the schemes and personally monitor on-going programmes in all the districts. “Proper monitoring, judicious utilization of funds and optimal use of resources will ensure timely benefits to the farmers of the state” he stressed. He reiterated that the state Government, under the leadership of Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, is determined to take the Agriculture & Horticulture Sectors to new heights.He instructed the officers and field functionaries to chalk out calendar and schedule for their field visits to reach out to the farmers at their doorsteps to solve various technical and inputs related problems. He asked the department to organize Kisan-melas-cum Exhibitions in all the districts with mass participation of local farmers.The Minister reviewed the expenditure and physical achievements under various farmers’ welfare schemes of all the districts of Jammu Division. He asked the officers to ensure timely utilization of funds.
Referring to strengthening of manpower in the department, Minister said that regularization of REZs and implementation of One Man One Post (OMOP) has been done to make it more vibrant.Secretary to Government Agriculture Production Department, Showkat Ahmad Beigh asked the CAOs, Sectoral Officers and SDAOs to ensure maximum utilization of funds by the end of 3rd quarter. He also directed the officers to ensure the achievement of targets under Soil Health Card Scheme (SCHS) and uploading of information on the online portal.Earlier Director Agriculture Jammu, Hari Krishan Razdan gave a presentation on progress recorded under various schemes. He apprised that the department has stocked 40913.80 qtls of High Yielding Variety (HYV) Seeds and 1899 qtls of fertilizers for current Rabi season which includes wheat, oilseeds, pulses and fodder seeds.Director Finance, Agriculture Production Department, Mr Mohd Yousaf Pandit, Joint Director SLUB, Sh Bulesh Zutshi, Joint Director of Agriculture (Inputs) K. S. Sambyal, Chief Agriculture Officers, Sectoral officers and Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officers also attended the meeting.