Inauguration of a five day long ‘Kisan Mela’ by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha in SKUAST -Jammu , among other things, is aimed at achieving a broader and wider objective of “Self sufficiency in agriculture” and ”Grow more and prosper more”. We feel that agricultural production of all hues must keep on showing increasing trends each year commensurate with ever increasing domestic demand , for building a buffer stock and providing enough scope for exports as well. It , however, goes without saying that the farmers must get better returns of their produce so as to keep investing the requisite interest and motivation in agricultural activities . Agricultural policies must stress upon and be largely concentrated on how to motivate the youth taking to farming not as a mere avocation but as a paying enterprise. The trend of the youth with agricultural background unfortunately ”running away ” from farming does not augur well and , therefore, must be arrested which can be done by making agriculture lucrative and motivational. Agriculture in totality is ,more or less, becoming an increasingly paying venture on account of facilities like better marketing, GI tagging, capacity building, storage facilities, air connectivity for fragile and easily perishable items , better and easily available credit , better irrigation facilities , quality seeds and the like hence involvement of the youth in allied activities like agricultural start-ups with full administrative support must be aggressively pursued and an increasing awakening generated .
On the other hand, doubling the income of farmers by 2024 should, therefore, not appear to be a mere rhetoric but more growth in agriculture produce must necessarily be accompanied by added incomes and hence growers’ prosperity. Since agriculture and allied activities including horticulture, growing vegetables , dairying , fishery and fish farming , forestry and the like having been classified as priority sectors for purposes of providing cheap credit, paying cost subsidies on various inputs , providing subsidised and cheap electricity, various levies and taxes exemption etc , an endeavour to introducing technological innovations and better marketing in the most important sector must be on a constant basis. In fact, what we gather from the schedule and the course of the said ” Kissan Mela” as enumerated by the Lt. Governor, points sufficiently towards that.
SKUAST in this connection, with a vast and varied plethora of ideas, knowledge, research and innovative techniques must ensure that such a breakthrough in agricultural knowledge must percolate on the ground by the farming community adopting , owning and benefitting there-from . While dealing with agriculture, thrust should be given to hitherto less or unevenly developed but of important areas like Horticulture and forestry. Newer areas must be explored where horticulture in non-conventional form can flourish which in other words means types of those fruits which are considered highly volatile climatically or known to be grown on particular types of soils only. It is worth knowing that industrious farmers of Jammu region have grown an apple variety which unbelievably grows in temperatures ranging between 40- 45 degree Celsius , nothing less than a groundbreaking development. In the same way , other varieties of fruits not grown before, with a blend of agricultural research and engineering, can be grown in those areas of Jammu division which before were never tried due to lack of matching facilities and know-how. Hence, laying foundation stone by the Lt. Governor for newly sanctioned faculties in the Agricultural University like that of Horticulture and forestry , agricultural engineering and dairy technology can surely lead to a big turnaround in these branches of the agriculture as conceptual and technical blend with the requisite Governmental support can show quite encouraging results.
Another most important sector is vegetable growing and the UT is on the threshold of attaining cent percent self sufficiency in vegetable growing as otherwise Jammu and Kashmir has been importing vegetables from neighbouring states like Punjab and Haryana . With the required thrust on growing more vegetables and bringing added areas under its cultivation together with encouraging “Kitchen Gardening” on a massive scale in Jammu and Kashmir, would not only change the face of much in demand vegetable growing and result in prosperity of the growers but keep prices thereof within affordable limits. Organic farming is the need of the hour and is in great demand , therefore, it is in the fitness of things that its importance has been duly highlighted in the Mela. However, latest scientific know-how must become an integral part of organic farming.
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