Director Agriculture Jammu S. Arvinder Singh Reen today inaugurated the Divisional Level Organic Certification Facilitation Centre under the Alternate Agriculture System for Sustainability at the Divisional Seed Certification Office, Regional Council PGS-India Jammu Division.
Speaking on the occasion, the Director Agriculture highlighted the importance of the newly established facilitation centre. He said the centre would help farmers to get their organic produce certified, ensuring them good marketing opportunities outside Jammu & Kashmir.
Furthermore, he mentioned that the centre would play a key role in the successful implementation of projects related to organic certification under the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP).
Director A.S Reen also noted that the centre would provide ongoing training support to ensure the efficient establishment and management of organic clusters. Additionally, he informed that Organic Certification Facilitation Centres at the district level, being set up across Jammu Division.
The facilitation centre will be staffed with Participatory Guarantee System of India (PGS) qualified officers and feature a projector setup for the training of extension officers and staff. Joint Director Satish Sharma highlighted the convenience that the organic certification facilitation centre would offer to farmers, making it easier for them to certify their organic clusters.
He also outlined that every district in Jammu Division has now set up an Organic Farming Management Unit, including PGS Auditors, PGS Facilitators, Quality Managers, and Training staff, to support the organic certification process.
Divisional Seed Certification Officer (DSCO) Prem Singh informed that 215 organic clusters, covering an area of 4260 hectares in Jammu Division, have already been registered on the PGS-India portal, with over 10,600 farmers enrolled.
He also added that Scope certificates had been issued to 175 clusters, achieving an 81% certification rate. The inauguration ceremony was attended by several key officials, including Joint Director Agriculture Extension Satish Sharma, Deputy Director Trainings (J) Alok Pandotra, Agriculture Chemist Dr. Aman Jyoti Sharma, Agri Research Engineer Vinay Kumar Bhardwaj, SMS-RL Dharmesh Vaid, AAE Arshad Hussain, SCA Masood Chaudhary, SMS-DL Koshal Chandel, SMS Rakesh Khajuria, and other officers from the Divisional Seed Certification Office.