Minister for Agriculture, Ghulam Nabi Lone Hanjura today concluded three day tour of Chenab valley including Ramban, Doda and Kishtwar areas wherein he took stock of various activities being carried out by Agriculture, Sericulture and Command Area Development (CAD) departments in the region.During his tour, the Minister inspected various developmental works undertaken under various sectors and interacted with the locals to take their input on ways to further improve the functioning of these departments at ground level.The Minister asked officers of Agriculture and its allied departments to put in their best efforts so that maximum benefit can be effectively extended to and availed by people under various Centrally Sponsored and State Sector schemes.On the last day of his tour, the Minister inaugurated Kisan Mela cum Agricultural Exhibition at Doda and conducted field visit at Bhaderwah.MLA Doda Shakti Raj Parihar, Deputy Commissioner Doda, Director Agriculture Jammu, senior officers of Agriculture, Sericulture, Command Area and other departments besides farmers of the area were present on the occasion.
At the Kisan mela, various departments established their stalls and displayed their products. The representatives from Animal Husbandry, Sheep Husbandry, Fisheries, Horticulture, Agriculture, Sericulture, Handicraft, Handloom and Social Welfare departments interacted with youth and informed them about various Government schemes available for the public and detailed their benefits for the locals.The Minister while speaking on the occasion, said that by launching massive awareness about these schemes and programmes at district, block and panchayat levels, farmers are switching over to new farm machinery, hybrid seeds, organic farming and other agriculture inputs which is leading to increase in productivity.The Minister highlighted various pro farmer initiatives taken by the Government in agriculture and allied sectors. He also gave a detailed brief about benefits that can be availed under recently launched social security schemes by the State and central Governments.Several deputations also met the Minister at Baderwah and apprised him of their problems. The Minister gave them a patient hearing and assured that their genuine demands shall be considered on priority. The Minister, in some cases, also gave on spot directions to the concerned for immediate redressal.Later, the Minister also convened a meeting with officers of Agriculture Department at Kishtwar and reviewed overall performance of the department.