Srinagar- Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Saturday chaired a high- level meeting of the advisory board for development of farmers and the officials of the agriculture department to discuss the roadmap on holistic development of agriculture & allied sectors in the Union Territory.
The meeting had meaningful and in-depth discussions wherein the participants shared their assessment of the farming sector, examined apex committee’s recommendations and efforts by UT administration for a great agriculture transformation, an official spokesperson said.
Sinha stated in the meeting that the Apex Committee on Holistic Agriculture has provided a roadmap to transform subsistence agriculture into sustainable commercial Agri-economy.
“We are adopting an integrated approach to tackle agriculture’s extreme vulnerability to ensure increased productivity and enhanced resilience,” the LG said.
“Our approach is farmer & community-centric enabling greater farmer participation in policies and ensuring their suggestions are taken into account in decision-making and benefit from increased productivity, diversification, access to credit & required technical assistance,” he added.
According to the spokesperson, the LG maintained that the integrated approach will enable and strengthen market access for small and marginal farmers.
“With inclusiveness we aim to improve credit flow by banks to the agriculture sector and particularly to small and marginal farmers,” the LG added.
The LG complimented the efforts of Dr. Mangala Rai, who headed the UT level apex committee and prepared a vision document on holistic development of agriculture & allied sectors and the farming community.
“Dr. Mangala Rai’s detailed report has addressed each and every aspect, issues and concerns related to the farmers and farming,” Sinha said, adding “The report of the Apex Committee in itself is a revolutionary policy document and is historical not only for J&K but also for the country. The recommendations would bring a great agriculture transformation in UT,”
The LG, the spokesperson said, stressed on promoting integrated and diversified farming. Sinha, he said, also directed NABARD and Banking sector to aggressively increase lending in the Agri and allied sectors.
He further said that Atal Dulloo, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Production Department, briefed the meeting on the key aspects of the aims, strategies and outcomes of the recommendations of the Apex Committee.
“Prof. JP Sharma, Vice-Chancellor, SKUAST-Jammu and Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai, Vice-Chancellor, SKUAST Kashmir also shared their views on the vision document prepared for the holistic development of Agriculture and allied sector in J&K,” the spokesperson said.
Dr Anjum Andrabi gave a detailed powerpoint presentation on the salient features and gist of the projects cleared by Apex Committee and their likely impact.