ANANTNAG, DECEMBER 30: The Department of Agriculture on Sunday organised a day-long Mega Kissan Mela cum Exhibition at Dak Bungalow Khanabal.
The event was inaugurated by Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Nazir Ahmad Laway in presence of Deputy Commissioner Anantnag, Mohammad Younis Malik and Director Agriculture, Kashmir, Syed Altaf Aijaz Andrabi.
In his address, Laway said the Department should organize more Kissan Melas in other parts of the district so that farmers can be given information about the latest scientific techniques being implemented for their upliftment. He also announced to cover the cost of the beehives from MP fund for all beneficiaries who have been listed by the Agriculture Department.
Laway also appealed the farmers to come forward for the establishment of vermi-compost manure units so that large-scale use of chemical fertilizers can be stopped. The
DC Anantnag hailed the efforts of the department in changing the economic scenario of the farmers particularly in production of Mushkibudji, vegetables, fish, horticulture produce, apiculture and mushroom cultivation.
He said more than 31000 hectares of the district land is covered under Agriculture and allied sectors and the need of the hour is to safeguard the agriculture land from being used for commercial and residential purposes. He said there is no shortage of funds in the Agriculture and Allied sectors.
The DDC also sought cooperation of the MP Rajya Sabha for raising Rs 1200 crore for a project under PMKSY for the district so that better irrigation facilities can be provided to the farmers.
Director Agriculture Kashmir Syed Altaf Aijaz Andrabi said farmers are the backbone of Kashmiri society and that the prosperity of a nation depends on the well-being of farming community.
Stressing the officers to reach out to the farmers collectively and provide them information on real time basis as per area specialty and market availability of fertilisers.
The director advised the farmers to adopt integrated farming and cultivate high value crops with value addition to increase their income and stressed the farmers to brand their products and adopt cooperative based market linking so that the agriculture sector is made remunerative.
The Chief Agriculture Officer, Anantnag highlighted the major achievements of the department and said that 280.5 Qntls of vermi-compost manure has been produced in 122 vermi-compost units in the district.
He said the honey production has touched 1079.83 Qtls with revenue of Rs.325.015 lakh. “1.25 lakh soil health cards have been issued among the farmers and soil samples of 1900 beneficiaries have been registered on soil health portal, he said.
“Farm machinery of Rs 1.57 crore has been provided which include tractor, power tiller, power weeder, poly green house, I.P Set, water harvesting structure, tube well/ bore well, four wheelers, poly film, brush cutter, mini power sprayer, pack house, manual sprayer, check dam and motorized vending cart,” he added.
He further stated that 5500 quintals Mushkibudji have been produced and revenue of Rs 7396 lakhs has been generated in the district.
