SRINAGAR: The Director of Agriculture Kashmir, Chowdhury Mohammad Iqbal, today visited different areas of Srinagar District and inspected various under-implementation works at Maloora, Bakhshipora, HMT and some other areas of Srinagar District.
During the visit, the Director took stock of different works that are under implementation in the district, under the Holistic Agriculture Development Program (HADP).
While having interactive meetings and giving instructions to the concerned officers, the Director of Agriculture asked them to strictly follow the guidelines for the implementation of different works.
He asked them to speed up the process of implementation of different under-implementation works, under HADP and other centrally sponsored schemes so that they could be dedicated to the farmers.
The Director visited many under implementation works including (hi-tech poly houses under the promotion of the exotic vegetable projects, low-cost poly green houses under the protected cultivation project, and the establishment of Mushroom units under another HADP project.
He was accompanied by Chief Agriculture Officer Srinagar, Manohar Lal Sharma and some other officers of the department.
Meanwhile, the Director of Agriculture Kashmir, Chowdhury Mohammad Iqbal inaugurated an awareness programme for the fertilizer, and pesticide companies of central Kashmir’s Budgam, Ganderbal and Srinagar districts at Agriculture Complex Lalmandi Srinagar.
The programme was organised by the Law Enforcement Wing Srinagar and was attended by Deputy Director Law Enforcement Wing, Mujtaba Yahyah; Assistant Director Law Enforcement, Feroz Ahmad Shapoo; District Law Enforcement Officer South Kashmir, Sheikh Imran; District Law Enforcement Officer North Kashmir, Dr Amarjeet Singh, fertilizer/pesticides dealers/distributors of central Kashmir districts, representatives of fertilizer, pesticides companies operating in central Kashmir and other concerned officers.
In his address, the Director of Agriculture reiterated the department’s commitment to uphold the farmers’ interests. He impressed upon the participants (fertilizers, pesticide dealers) to ensure that only genuine, quality inputs (fertilizers, pesticides) are provided to the farming community of the region.
He said that any violation of the fertilizer control order (1985) and Insecticides Act (1968) would not be tolerated and the action as per law would be initiated against the erring parties/individuals.
Iqbal directed the officers of the enforcement wing of the department to accelerate the frequency of visits by marketing checking squads so that only the quality fertilizers and pesticides reach the consumers. He marked the importance of a coordinated approach among the stakeholders, to safeguard the economic interests of the farming community.
He said the poor quality inputs (fertilizers, pesticides) are not only an economic burden to the farmers but are environmentally a disaster for the region. He concluded that all the stakeholders including the department, and fertilizer/pesticide dealers must collaborate for the well-being of the farming community.
Director Agriculture also interacted with the fertilizer, pesticide dealers and representatives of concerned companies and conveyed his assurance of full support and cooperation in their efforts towards the benefit of farmers.
