Secretary in Agriculture Production Department, Shabnam Kamili, today flagged off 18 progressive farmers of Jammu division associated with production of citrus fruits from Pragati Bhawan, to Centre of Excellence (An Indo-Israel project), Department of Horticulture, Mangiana, Haryana.
Director Horticulture/Agriculture, Jammu, Ram Savak, Director, Horticulture, Kashmir/Managing Director, MIDH, J&K, Ghulam Rasool Mir, Managing Director, HPMC, Imam Din, Director Command Area Development, Jammu, Nagendra Singh Jamwal, Joint Director, Horticulture and Chief Horticulture Officers of Jammu Division were also present during the event.
Secretary complimented the J&K Advisory Board for Development of Kisans for organizing such exposure tours in the interest and welfare of farmers of Jammu and Kashmir. She impressed upon the farmers to interact with the farm scientists, experts and extension functionaries to get acquainted with upto date methodologies in crop cultivation on scientific lines.
Shabnam Kamili asked the farmers to enhance their technical skills in the field of integrated farming and adopt the advanced technologies for cultivation of different crops after learning from such training programs. Secretary said that this exposure tour shall be a symbolic commencement of their educational journey and is a New Year gift from the Government of Jammu & Kashmir.
Speaking on the occasion, Secretary, J&K Advisory Board for Development of Kisans, Abdul Hamid Wani, briefed that the aim of this exposure tour is to acquaint the farmers with the latest practices adopted by the State of Haryana in production and development of citrus fruits.
Besides, the participating farmers would get exposure to the modern technological developments enabling them increase their farm income and share their knowledge with the fellow farmers about their learned skills during the exposure tour.
He said that the training being held in collaboration with Department of Horticulture, Haryana, will cover a spectrum of topics including best practices in development of Citrus fruits, post management techniques and latest advancement in orchard development.
Such initiative aims to enhance skills and knowledge in orchard management fostering sustainable practices on boosting overall productivity, he added.