Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Farooq Khan, chaired 59th Board of Directors (BoD) meeting of Jammu and Kashmir Horticulture Produce and Marketing and Processing Corporation (JKHPMC) at Civil Secretariat here today.Commissioner Secretary Horticulture Navin K. Choudhary, Director Horticulture Jammu, MD JKHPMC besides other members of the Board along with senior officers of Horticulture department and JKHPMC were present in the meeting.Managing Director JKHPMC gave a detailed presentation about the functioning and achievements of the Corporation.The meeting discussed the action taken report on implementation of 58th BOD decisions besides minutes of previous BoD meeting were also confirmed in the meeting. Besides, revised estimates for the Financial Year 2020-21 and proposed budget for FY 2021-22, construction of walnut de-hulling unit at Achabal, Anantnag in technical collaboration with SKUAST-K, setting up of Fruit Packaging Manufacturing Unit at Doabagh (Sopore), Setting up of Mini Food Processing Park, setting up of CA stores each in Jammu and Kashmir Division and achievements of the Corporation were also discussed in the meeting.
Advisor approved two CA stores one each at Jammu and Kashmir division and said there shall be approval for more CA stores in the second phase. He also gave in-principle approval for appointing five independent directors who shall be experts in their respective fields related to horticulture produce and marketing besides hiring a consultancy agency for overall revival and modernisation of JKHPMC. Advisor also directed the MD JKHPMC to dispose of all the pending produce of last year before the procurement of next year’s produce and also clear all the audits of previous years.Calling horticulture as a key sector in UTs economy, Advisor said there should be visible change in this sector with some progressive interventions made by the administration. “The administration is taking major initiatives to turnaround the horticulture sector with inclusive focus on production, harvesting and marketing of the horticulture produce,” he asserted.Advisor stressed upon to ensure better quantity and quality of fruit saying that better marketing facilities shall be provided to farmers for their social-economic upliftment. He said that JKHPMC should set an example for the future entrepreneurs, who are willing to set business units, that know how to create profit from these businesses related to horticulture produce.