BUDGAM: Principal Secretary of Agriculture Production Department (APD), Shailendra Kumar today visited the organic vegetable cluster Narkara here, and held interaction with the progressive farmers and also took stock of the agriculture activities in the areas.
During the visit, he also reviewed the progress of various projects under the holistic agriculture development programme.
Interacting with the farmers, the Principal Secretary reiterated the department’s commitment to the development of agriculture and allied sectors in the region. He impressed upon the young educated farmers to go for diverse agriculture activities like mushroom cultivation, and beekeeping as a main source to earn income and livelihood. He further said that organic vegetable cultivation shall be encouraged and a large number of organic vegetable clusters shall be established under the PKVY scheme in the UT of J&K.
On the occasion, Shailendra Kumar also distributed authority letters among beneficiaries under the CAPEX budget 2023-24 for the establishment of mushroom units on a 50% subsidy.
Meanwhile, the Principal Secretary also visited the first of its kind fully automated mushroom unit at Mamath here. He inspected different sections of the mushroom unit and held deliberations with the unit holder.
Expressing his view, Shailendra Kumar said that a multi-crore project under a holistic agriculture development programme is being implemented by the Department of Agriculture for the promotion of round-the-year mushroom cultivation for sustainable and profitable crops. He said over the years mushroom cultivation emerged as one of the essential tools to enhance the agricultural income of the concerned farming families.
Later, the Principal Secretary also visited vegetable growing areas of Bugam and held an interaction with the vegetable growers of the area.
Director of Agriculture Kashmir, Chowdhary Mohammad Iqbal and other senior officers of the Agriculture Department accompanied the Principal Secretary during the visit.
