To take stock of various developmental works and other projects being executed in concerned sectors in the Udhampur District, the Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Horticulture, Animal & Sheep Husbandry Navin Kumar Choudhary conducted a day long extensive tour of district and convened a meeting of Divisional and District level officers of the concerned departments to review the progress of works.During his whirlwind tour, Principal Secretary visited Shitramble, Malhar cluster sites of project Jeevika, where he inspected the progress of Jeevika project launched by the District Administration Udhampur. Deputy Commissioner Dr. Piyush Singla apprised the Principal Secretary about the project Jeevika, conceptualized for water conservation and gainful sustainable livelihood opportunities of small and marginal farmers in the district.He was informed that under this project 250 ponds are being constructed in convergence with MGNREGA in all panchayats of district out of which two clusters are completed while remaining 65 clusters are in progress. Mapping of 132 clusters have been done so far. He appreciated the District Administration for this unique initiative.He stressed on scaling up of the Jeevika clusters in the district so that the farmers' community can avail maximum benefits of these projects in their respective areas. CAO was directed to set up multiple cropping systems at Padanoo site and prepare a detailed documentary of success stories of Jeevika project. He spelled out that Jeevika like models are the need of the hour for boosting the per capita agriculture income by shifting from orthodox farming to the high value cash crops.
Agriculture department was asked to identify the suitable sites for farmers market along the clusters sites nearby highway with parking space besides farmers producing organization or cooperative societies be framed in the interest of the farmer’s community. He stressed that the brand name “Jeevika organic”should be promoted and Mobile app of Jeevika should be launched in the district for marketing.Navin Choudhary also interacted with the farmers and stressed to promote organic farming in all the Jeevika clusters in the district to increase their agriculture income. He said that government is making all efforts for sustainable growth of agriculture and its allied sectors by introducing several innovative measures to enable farmers to get maximum returns from their land. He asked the CAO to constitute an apex body of all the farmers interest group (FIG) and commodity interest group (CIG) in the District which will take care of farmer’s interest.He stressed upon the officers to ensure effective implementation of Government sponsored schemes meant for socio-economic transformation of farmer’s community which will help in achieving the target of doubling the income of farmers by 2022. He also commended the efforts of the department in the field of organic farming and its promotion in rural areas of the district as organic crops are highly remunerative and health protective. Principal Secretary stressed on all stakeholders to focus on integrated farming system to enhance the livelihood of farmers and also added that modern technologies should be adopted on all sectors. Horticulture department was asked to focus on high density crops in the district.
Later, the Principal Secretary also visited Narsoo where he laid the foundation stone of Kissan Mandi in presence of director Horticulture and marketing Imam Din. He informed that many catchment areas of the Kissan Mandi like Baasht, Pachote , Kud, Latti etc which are production hub of exotic vegetables wherein number of green house farms are also established and most of the produce sent to the major markets like Narwal and Udhampur Mandi.Navin Choudhary appreciated swift action of the District Administration, Udhampur for allotting the land to Horticulture and marketing department for Kissan Mandi. He said that an amount of Rs 25 lakh have been earmarked for the development of said Kissan Mandi. He said that one more initiative has been taken by Government to boost the farmers's income wherein direct marketing has been allowed apart from the existing /notified principal markets yards , sub market yards , markets sub yards and private markets yards . Collection centres are being opened at various production areas wherein the farmers can directly sell their produce nearby and earn proper returns. Some of the farmers were also registered on spot for opening of collection centres based on certain terms and conditions.Director Agriculture Jammu, Inderjeet, Director Horticulture Jammu, Ram Sewak, Director Horticulture Planning & Marketing J&K, Imam Din, Director Animal Husbandry Jammu, Vivek Sharma, Director Sheep Husbandry Jammu, Dr. Sanjeev Kumar, Director Fisheries J&K, Mohammad Amin, Additional District Development Commissioner, Ashok Kumar, Chief Planning Officer, Rajeev Bhushan, CAO, Satish Bhagat, CHO, B V Gupta besides other District and Divisional Level officers of concerned departments were accompanying the Principal Secretary during the tour.