Srinagar: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha today said that 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 farmers.’
Sinha made these remarks after inaugurating National Seminar on “Agriculture and More: Beyond 4.0”, hosted by SKUAST-Kashmir.
The 3-day seminar is being organized by Society for Community Mobilization for Sustainable Development, in collaboration with SKUAST-Kashmir and SKUAST-Jammu.
The Lt Governor 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, an official spokesman said.
LG pitched for new smart technologies, which can provide most extensive and precise support to the farmers, said the spokesman.
“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, the Lt Governor observed.
“Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Artificial Intelligence and Robotics will not only increase the efficiency making farming more profitable and environmentally friendly but also affect the entire production chain positively, helping small and marginal farmers,” the spokesman quoted LG as saying.
He said that while highlighting the need to introduce advanced technologies and new methods to the farmers and making innovation core of Indian agriculture, the Lt Governor 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.
“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,” LG was quoted as saying.
The spokesman said that LG asked the new generation to be a part of the agriculture’s transformation process. He said, 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.
The Lt Governor 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, said the spokesman.
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, added the spokesman.
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, said the spokesman.
He said that Dulloo highlighted the role of the Universities in preparing Geo-climatic area-based agriculture models applicable and spoke extensively on the interventions in terms of strategies and technologies that could further overhaul the agriculture and allied sector. The UT government has kept a sufficient budget for Agriculture sector and all requirements of the sector would be met, he added.
On the occasion, the Lt Governor felicitated the progressive farmers, innovative start-ups and outstanding achievers in the field of agriculture. He also released a souvenir for the conference, journals and books having treasures of knowledge gathered from across the country. Books on transforming Agriculture and adopting Smart Agriculture were also released.
Earlier, the Lt Governor interacted with students & faculty innovators, SKUAST Start-ups, and inspected the stalls put up by SKUAST, government departments and private players.
