As per the instruction of Director Horticulture Jammu, Ram Sevak, Department of Horticulture Poonch organised a one day training cum awareness programme for the students of ITI College here in the office MCC. The training was held under the guidance of Sanjeev Kumar, Chief horticulture Officer and Rakesh Kumar, Horticulture Development officer.
Over 50 students participated in which different post harvest management techniques were discussed. The Chief Horticulture Officer acquainted the students with processing, packaging, Grading, branding of various processed products like plum jam, pickles, Apricot squash and Jam, Ginger Tonic, sauces etc as these fruits are locally available.
The HDO delivered a lecture on the importance and scope of Post Harvest Management.The Horticulture Development officers Sathra and Mendhar were also present on this occasion. Anjana Sharma and Nargis Bano gave a practical demonstration on the processing and preparation of Mango pickle and Plum Jam.
The youth were encouraged to set up food processing to earn livelihood and reduce the Post Harvest losses in the District which are near about 30%-40%.“The Fruit is grown in abundant/Surplus with a production of 26024.80 Mt tones from an area of 18601 Ha in district Poonch. In the rural areas of Poonch many families are totally dependent upon fruit cultivation like Apples, Plum, Apricot, Lime and processing of these fruits can increase their income” the participants were informed.
The Students were surprised to know the different benefits of Post Harvest products and how to generate income from them. They were also informed about different schemes of the Horticulture department like Plantation, Ultra High Density Plantation of Apples, Pack House, Bore well, Machinery and equipment and other schemes in which subsidy is provided in the form of incentives by the department of Horticulture. The Students requested the Chief Horticulture Officer to organise these types of training programmes on a regular basis so that they can take benefits of different schemes of the department.