Srinagar- Asserting that Jammu and Kashmir is moving towards becoming a major agricultural power of the country, the Union Territory Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha said on Thursday that Policy decisions and reforms taken in the last two-and-a-half years have yielded desired results.
“To meet the future challenges of Agriculture and allied sector, we will require new smart technologies, which can provide most extensive and precise support to the farmers,” the LG said after inaugurating National Seminar on “Agriculture and More: Beyond 4.0”, hosted by SKUAST-Kashmir, here on Thursday.
The 3-day seminar is being organized by Society for Community Mobilization for Sustainable Development, in collaboration with SKUAST-Kashmir and SKUAST-Jammu.
According to the spokesperson, the LG congratulated the organizers for providing a common platform to Scientists and Experts for deliberating upon the innovative agricultural technologies, its future role in agriculture and allied sector, critical to Jammu Kashmir and India’s economy.
“Agriculture 4.0 – the new-age Agriculture Revolution based on science and green technology is the answer to continuous growing food demand. It can provide growth and sustainability to agriculture & horticulture sector while protecting the ecosystem,” Sinha said.
“Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics will not only increase the efficiency making farming more profitable and environment friendly, but also affect the entire production chain positively, helping small and marginal farmers,” he added.
Highlighting the need to introduce advanced technologies and new methods to the farmers and making innovation core of Indian agriculture, the LG, as per the spokesperson said that the government is very well aware of the future challenges in agriculture sector, and is taking the requisite measures to ensure that farmers have access to the latest technology and crucial information for the farming.
“Jammu and Kashmir is moving towards becoming a major agricultural power of the country. Policy decisions and reforms taken in the last two-and-a-half years have yielded desired results,” he said.
“We are making concerted efforts to promote innovative agricultural technologies, Data-Driven & Precision Agriculture, encouraging the use of Artificial Intelligence, ensuring maximum saturation of farm mechanization, besides creating global markets for local produce to make Agriculture and allied sectors more lucrative, efficient and eco-friendly,” he added.
Calling the new generation to be a part of the agriculture’s transformation process, the LG, according to the spokesperson said that the modern technology will benefit the entire supply chain offering opportunity to young entrepreneurs.
“It will ensure food security and reduce dependency on imports, increase in productivity and major shift towards innovation and knowledge-based economy,” he said.
The spokesperson said that the LG assured government’s support to the agri-startups and entrepreneurs, and said that the Startups will be provided with space/land in the Industrial estates across the UT at concessional rates so that their innovations could be connected to the market and reach the farming community.
“He also urged the Agriculture Scientists, Krishi Vigyan Kendras and PRIs to adopt a coordinated and integrated approach to encourage new technologies of Agriculture 4.0,” he added.
The spokesperson said that Prof. Nazir Ahmad Ganai, Vice-Chancellor, SKUAST-K in his welcome address highlighted the achievements of the University in agriculture and allied sectors and its endeavours to bring agriculture technologies to the farmers.
“Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner (Additional Chief Secretary), Agriculture Production Department while speaking on the occasion stressed on the necessity of refining the strategies and revising the policies and programs in the agriculture sector along with a continuous assessment of achievements and identifying the challenges in the progress and growth of the sector,” he added.
