LG Sinha lists out measures taken for farmers' welfare in J-K

Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday outlined that the welfare of farmers and their betterment is the prime focus of both the Centre and the Union territory governments. He was addressing farmers during a programme held at Kisan Kendra in Jammu in which the latest instalment under the PM-KISAN scheme was disbursed to beneficiaries.

The event was held simultaneously with Prime Minister Narendra Modi disbursing Rs 18,000 crore to nine crore farmers across India under the PM-KISAN scheme. Lt Governor Sinha observed that the farmers of Jammu and Kashmir have been provided with financial assistance worth Rs 1,132 crore under the scheme so far. Listing out comprehensive measures taken by the UT government, Sinha said his administration has worked for the development of agriculture and allied sectors in J&K with 100 per cent coverage under the PM-KISAN scheme so that no beneficiary is left behind in availing the benefits.

To achieve the tangible results, the government is extending sustained handholding and support to the farming community facilitating the rapid growth in the agriculture and its allied sectors for improving productivity and profitability of farmers, the Lt Governor remarked. "With an aim to promote farm mechanisation and creating self-sufficient villages in this financial year, 500 tractors with Rs 2 lakh subsidy, besides power tillers, paddy planters and threshers are being distributed among the farmers across J&K", the Lt Governor said.

Emphasising on better storage provisions for farm produce, Sinha stressed on the need for establishing modern storage systems in the UT. Further, four pesticide laboratories and soil testing labs are also being set up in Jammu and Kashmir, he added. The Lt Governor said the promotion of agriculture, horticulture, dairy and poultry sectors are the administration's priorities. He also underscored the importance of launching a massive campaign to make farmers aware of land use and other facets of modern agriculture.

"I have identified four issues that are being addressed on priority - increasing productivity through intervention of technology, ensuring best price and market support, mitigation of risks and diversification through allied activities", observed the Lt Governor. We are working out the prioritisation and convergence wherever required to make our efforts more effective in improving the viability, profitability, and sustainability of agriculture and allied sectors, he added.

''Around 70 per cent of the population of Jammu & Kashmir is engaged in agriculture and its allied sectors. It is imperative that the administration set up a large number of modern granaries, cold storage and modern agriculture equipment so that local farmers are able to double their income in the next two years'', the Lt Governor stressed. He said that through custom hiring centres being set up for assisting small and marginal farmers, such farmers can easily borrow expensive machinery.

Highlighting the measures taken by the government in fostering agriculture and allied sectors, the Lt Governor said the administration is providing 50 per cent subsidy for starting a fodder plant. Similarly, for setting up a dairy with 50 cows, a 50 per cent subsidy is being provided by the administration, besides 50 per cent subsidy for setting up milk chilling and processing plants, Sinha said.

To increase flow of bank credit to small and marginal farmers, more focus is being given by the administration to this segment, the credit disbursal targets of agriculture and allied sectors for the current financial year increased by 2.5 times against the last year's disbursement, said the Lt Governor. The Lt Governor also termed high density plantation, inter-cropping and diversification in agriculture as the need of the hour. In the near future, around 1,900 hectare area is going to be brought under high density apple plantation. It would help increase income of apple growers by four times, he pointed out.

It is heartening to see the youth also showing interest in taking up agriculture as a career with many of them growing exotic vegetables that are in great demand in cities, he exclaimed. ''I remember a graduate from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Isha Rasool, who with her breakthrough experiments in organic farming had helped the farmers in establishing a seed bank and is working on high intensity farming'', he said.

Like Isha Rasool from Kashmir division, we also have Chaman Lal from Sunderbani in Rajouri district who has earned Rs 8 lakh by selling exotic vegetables grown in just 1.5 hectare land, the LG added.