Foundations Laid For A Sea Change In J&K’s Economic Growth: LG

‘PM Has Ensured That There Would Be No Shortage Of Funds For Farmers Of J&K’

Jammu- Asserting that this decade in agriculture & horticulture sector belongs to Jammu and Kashmir, the Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said on Tuesday that the policies through holistic development plan have laid the foundations for a sea change in Union Territory’s economic growth.

Sinha made these remarks after inaugurating Mega Fruit Plant Nursery at Chakroi, RS Pura here on Tuesday. He congratulated the farmers and fruit growers and said the Nursery will provide best technologies as well as true-to-type quality planting material that will reshape the Horticulture Sector in the area.

“It is a massive achievement that in one year a mega fruit plant nursery has been established in an area where cross border shelling was a normal thing in fields,” he said

“This decade in the agriculture & horticulture sector belongs to J&K UT. The policies through holistic development plan have laid the foundations for a sea change in J&K’s economic growth,” he added.
The LG also shared the vision of the government to bring a significant change in the lives of farmers of J&K and accelerate the growth of J&K’s economy.

“Our effort is to make sub-tropical fruit cultivation a multi-faceted business by increasing efficiency of orchards with the help of various interventions like setting up new nurseries and new plant material testing labs,” he said.

He said that his government is committed to serve the present and future needs of farmers in an integrated manner.

“Our endeavour is also to convert farm’s & orchard’s potential into farmer’s power and transform all the districts of both Jammu and Kashmir divisions into a hub of export with the cultivation of niche crops and value addition of special products,” the LG said.

“In order to meet the future challenges and to ensure new wave of growth momentum, 29 projects approved by Apex Committee for Holistic Development of Agriculture & Allied sectors are being implemented. The plan worth Rs 5013 crores will bring significant change in the lives of around 13 lakh farming families of J&K including 2.62 lakh small and marginal farming families,” he added

The LG asserted that no other region in the country has made such a revolutionary intervention in the Agriculture and allied sector. He said all arrangements, from seed to market have been made through implementation framework of the plan.

Sinha further said that the Prime Minister has ensured that there would be no shortage of funds for farmers of J&K. He also made valuable suggestions to improve productivity and tackle challenges as well as opportunities of the agriculture & allied sectors.

“A strong agricultural marketing ecosystem will increase the farm income and reduce the value loss. We are working on covering the entire value chain including inputs, harvesting, processing, packing, storage, besides meeting the need of quality planting material etc. and developing infrastructure & other facilities while taking climatic conditions into consideration, the LG said.

“We have also made provisions to arrange and grow 80% of fodder requirements locally within J&K,” he added.

Speaking on the services extended by the government, the LG said that around 31 lakh land passbooks have been generated and more than 400 public services have been made fully online with a provision of Public Services Guarantee Act.

On the issue of proper functioning of Ranbir Canal, Sinha said that a permanent solution via a policy for uninterrupted and proper functioning of Ranbir Canal will be ensured.

He also clarified that there is no such rule for compulsory buying of cattle from outside the region to avail the subsidy.

‘And if there is any, I declare it Null & Void’,” he added.

This mega fruit plant nursery established with state-of-the-art equipment like Automatic weather monitoring system, will facilitate easy supply of quality fruit saplings.

The Mega Fruit Plant Nursery houses 50 different Blocks for growing mother plants of different fruits including Citrus fruits. Spanning over more than 800 Kanal area the Mega Fruit plant nursery will grow and provide saplings of Guava, mango, litchi, other citrus fruits and also of the Dragon fruit.

It is the biggest fruit nursery in North India. In the coming time, 10 lakh saplings of fruit plants will be distributed to farmers. Micro irrigation system was also established in the mega fruit nursery for irrigation in addition to other advanced facilities and modern equipment. Tissue culture lab and other labs will also be established in the coming time, it was informed.