Jammu: The Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) has facilitated the establishment of over 1.11 lakh units across all 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir, benefiting 74,589 farming families so far, a senior government official said on Saturday.
Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Production Department, Ashish Chandra Verma said the programme has achieved full geographic coverage but currently reaches only about 8.1 per cent of the PM-Kisan beneficiary base, indicating significant scope for expansion and improved utilisation to meet targets.
HADP is a flagship initiative of the J&K government, launched in March 2024, aimed at revamping the agricultural sector through 29 focused projects covering seed quality enhancement, niche crop cultivation, mechanization, and market linkage development.
Verma was briefing a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo here to assess the progress and performance of the HADP in the Union Territory..
The Chief Secretary noted that the programme reflects strong financial viability, with a government subsidy of around Rs 450 crore expected to be recovered within approximately 2.6 years through enhanced farm incomes.
He directed the department to intensify outreach efforts and ensure greater inclusion of eligible farmers, particularly in districts with lower coverage.
Regarding the functioning of Kisan Khidmat Ghars (KKGs), he directed for strengthening them further by improving licensing and expanding service delivery, including onboarding of banking and digital services at these centres.
Managing Director, J&K Bank, Amitava Chatterjee, highlighted key suggestions pertaining to digital interventions, including integration and onboarding of various stakeholder platforms onto the HADP portal to enhance efficiency and outreach.
He assured full support and closer institutional synergy with the Agriculture Production Department to ensure seamless implementation of the programme and achievement of its envisaged objectives across all districts of J&K.
Managing Director, HADP, Sagar Doifode Dattatray elucidated that the programme has generated an estimated annual revenue of Rs 368 crore and annual profit of Rs 173 crore at the beneficiary level, translating into an average income enhancement of about Rs 25,000 per family per year, besides creating over 2.45 crore man-days of employment across 287 blocks and more than 5,100 villages and wards.
Revealing about the implementation quality, the MD gave out that about 92.9 percent of the units are functional and nearly 99 percent units are verified as existing, while 68.3 percent beneficiaries have undergone training under various components.
The chief secretary laid strong emphasis on the importance of adopting a data-driven, district-specific approach to improve conversion from approvals to unit establishment, which currently stands at around 25 percent. The chief secretary emphasized the need to further improve training coverage and capacity building to enhance productivity and sustainability.
He reiterated that HADP has the potential to transform the agricultural landscape of J&K by enhancing farmer incomes, generating employment and promoting sustainable agriculture here. He called for ensuring sustained momentum, effective convergence and focused interventions to maximize its impact across the length and breadth of the UT.
Moreover he issued directions for faster conversion of approved applications into established units. He enjoined upon the concerned to lay focus on improvement in farmer registration and eKYC completion, strengthening of district-level monitoring and accountability, time-bound grievance redressal and scaling up of high-value agricultural activities to make this programme a success.
Regarding the functioning of Kisan Khidmat Ghars (KKGs), he directed for strengthening them further by improving licensing and expanding service delivery, including onboarding of banking and digital services at these centres.
