Dr Vikas Sharma
SKUAST-Jammu was established in the year 1999 with jurisdiction in Jammu division having 6 districts; however, in the year 2007, number of districts were increased to 10, with the creation of 4 new districts, viz., Samba, Reasi, Ramban and Kishtwar. Jammu province has vast area, whose length / breadth ranges from 200 to 400 kms from Lakhanpur to Bani, Doda / Bhaderwah and Rajouri / Poonch. SKUAST-Jammu have limited staff and resources, which makes difficult to cater to the needs of farmers in far flung / remote areas of Udhampur (Gool, Mahore, etc.), Doda / Bhaderwah (Chinta, Bhalessa etc.) and Bani (Dandi Kutu, Basohli, Billawar etc.), besides, upper reaches of Rajouri and Poonch districts, which have suffered political as well as developmental alienation since independence. The farmers of these areas are unable to get the benefit of latest advances in agricultural technologies, due to the shortage of sanctioned staff and meager financial resources made available to the State Agriculture University i.e., SKUAST-Jammu, thus, resulting in lower agricultural production and a strong resentment among the farming community leading to hindrances in joining the main stream of Indian polity. There is misappropriation of funds, as like other areas, SKUAST- Jammu is also subject to regional discrimination, where State Govt. is always reluctant to release sufficient funds for teaching, research and extension, but after getting Central Agriculture University Status, the varsity will come under the direct control of Central Government and this will be a good confidence measure for the people of Jammu, who have struggled a lot for this Agricultural University.
Moreover, in Northern India there is not even a single Central Agricultural University so far and Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir State is the most suitable place for the establishment of the same. It is because Jammu region of the state, unlike the Kashmir Province and that of Ladakh, is bestowed upon with four agro climatic zones by the nature. They comprised of subtropical, subtemperate, temperate and cold arid zones, which are not available in any other area of the country. This is the reason, why a large no. of crops like rice, wheat, maize, pearl millet, buck wheat etc are grown along with a number of cash crops, vegetables, fruits, wild mushroom, saffron etc throughout the year. Off season vegetables like cabbage, cauliflower, knolkhol are grown in Chenani area. Sub mountainous area of Jammu Shivaliks locally called Kandi belt was once very popular for growing of barley, gram, local mango, jamun, phalsa as well as tarar, goal manda and others which have now almost vanished.
With the setting up of Central Agricultural University for Jammu, these aspects can be revived after conducting research by the new staff after their recruitment. Besides, by opening the said varsity, there will be no difficulty in starting new research stations and Krishi Vigyan Kendras for cold arid zone adjoining to Kargil, Leh / Ladakh as well as in Ramban and Akhnoor to conduct more experiments. This will increase the productivity of various crops, fruits and vegetables in the J&K State. Moreover, establishment of this Central Agricultural University will also assist the scientists and farmers of adjoining states especially Himachal Pardesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand. Central Agricultural University Status for SKUAST-Jammu will help in increasing the staff / research stations in the far flung / remote areas and availability of increased financial assistance directly from the Central Government will further help to take the latest technology to the door steps of farmers in far flung areas. The name of SKUAST-Jammu will also be changed to Central Agricultural University of Jammu, as the common name of SKUAST-J and SKUAST-K is creating a lot of problems and confusions.
It is pertinent to mention here that SKUAST-Teaching Association Jammu (SKUAST-Taj) has already discussed the matter with Rajnath Singh Home Minister of India, and Union Minister for Human Resource Development Samriti Irani and BJP Nation President Amit Shah.
In the light of aforesaid facts, I would request concerned Central and State Ministry to consider the genuine demand and oblige Jammuites by establishing the Central Agricultural University of Jammu.
(The author is President Teaching Association, SKUAST-Jammu and working as Assistant Professor (Biochemistry) SKUAST-Jammu, )
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