Stating that agriculture and allied sectors are the major source of livelihood for a major chunk of population in Jammu and Kashmir, the Advisor to Governor, BB Vyas today directed the officers to ensure that the productivity of these critical sectors gets a boost.He also stressed on exploring new and modern ways of marketing so that the economy of the farmers and state gets a fillip.TheAdvisor was speaking at a review meeting of the Agriculture, Horticulture, Sericulture and allied departments here todayVC SKUAST Jammu Dr P.K. Sharma, Secretary Agriculture and Floriculture Manzoor Lone, Directors of Agriculture, Horticulture, Sericulture, Command Area Development Jammu, Managing Director Horticulture and Planning Marketing attended the meetingDirectors of Agriculture, Horticulture, Command Area Development Kashmir and faculty members of SKUAST Kashmir also attended the meeting through video conferencing.The Advisor said that the government has taken a number of initiatives for development of Agriculture, allied sectors with focused strategy to increase production, productivity of crops and to enable farmers to take advantage of market opportunities.Vyas while stressing on putting in place an effective outreach and extension programme said that the same is pivotal for making the farmers and people related with these sectors aware about the new interventions in the field.
He said the officers should also conduct regular field visits in order to get the status of implementation of these initiatives and also requisite feedback from the framers.He emphasized that focus should shift to agricultural models to increase farmers’ income, saying this can only be brought about by improving productivity, lowering costs, enhancing efficiency, providing market access to farmers, making them producers of products rather than commodities.Vyas also stressed on putting in place more Controlled Atmosphere storages so that the storage life of fruit varieties can be increased by several months.He also called for undertaking measures for having walnut nurseries in the different parts of the Jammu Division as well. He also stressed for increasing root connectivity in orchards in convergence with MGNREGA and creation of irrigation facilities for ensuring assured facilities of irrigation and better production.Vyas also stressed for undertaking product-based approach and directed the MD Agro to explore all possible avenues of marketing heirloom ventures like Basmati and other traditional varieties to benefit the farmers and create a niche for products of the state in national and international market. He also called for reviewing the traditional varieties and establishing Almond nurseries in the state in tune with cultural traditions.The Advisor also directed for undertaking administrative inspections, settling the HRM issues like maintenance of seniority lists and regular conduct of DPCs, maintaining tour dairies and also ensuring prompt action on the issues related to the public grievances.