The Botany Department of Government Degree College (GDC), Anantnag organized a one-day workshop on "Agri-preneurship" in collaboration with NABARD. On the occasion, District Development Manager NABARD, Rouf Zargar was invited as guest speaker while Prof. Abdul Majeed Chalkoo, Head of the Department chaired the session.
Abdul Ahad, a successful Agri-preneur from Future Agro was specially invited to the workshop. The session was attended by students of the department and faculty members. Speaking on the occasion, DDM NABARD said that NABARD has been implementing various schemes of Govt of India which aim to provide business opportunities to unemployed graduates and the doorstep delivery of agricultural extension services to farmers to cater to their local needs and affordability.
He stated that through the schemes of the government, we want to motivate students to adopt agriculture as their profession rather than looking for white collar jobs. These workshops are the means of reaching out to students and make them aware about the opportunities in new markets for agri products.
He gave a detailed presentation about the central sector Agri Clinics Agri Business (ACABC) Scheme which has a subsidy component of 44% for Agri related science graduates for setting up of Agri-business ranging from 10 Lakh to 1 Crore.
Prof Chalkoo, HoD Botany appealed to students to adopt innovative ways of modern agriculture with special reference to herbal and medicinal plants. He talked about how demand for organic farming has increased manifold in recent years and is certainly to remain high in demand.
On the sidelines of the workshop, Abdul Ahad, a progressive farmer and Agri-preneur was felicitated for his achievement in setting up of own agri-enterprise under the banner Future Agro.