Minister for Agriculture, Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura has stressed upon the Agriculture Department to produce quality seeds in the departmental farms to meet the needs of the farmers.The Minister issued the directions during a meeting held to discuss various issues related to functioning of Chakrohi seed farm in Jammu.The meeting was also attended Vice chancellor SKUAST (J) PK Sharma, Commissioner/Secretary Agriculture Production Department, Muhmmad Afzal Bhat, Secretary Agriculture production department, Showkat Ahmad Beg, Director Agriculture Jammu, H.K. Razdan and other senior officers of the department. Hanjura said that best quality seeds should be made available to the farmers at low rates so that more and more farmers would get benefited out of the schemes initiated by the agriculture department. He said that state government is making every effort to improve the living standards of the farming community through farmer friendly initiatives.
Hanjura said that State Government has already announced several innovative schemes for farmers with the intention to uplift their income. He said the approach recommended by agriculture experts to double the income of farmers in a given time-frame should be adopted in true spirit. He said that awareness and sensitization of farmers holds key to better implementation of the welfare schemes and called upon the Agriculture department and concerned agencies to reach out to the farmers by organizing regular awareness programmes.He stressed that with the changing times the focus should be on integrated and organic farming to fetch good economic returns. He said that implementation of the schemes like Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY), Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bhima Yojana (PMFBY), National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC), Kissan Credit Cards (KCC) Scheme and focus on integrated farming will make the farming sector more lucrative.