Jammu: Asserting that agriculture and allied sectors are the next big frontier for youth entrepreneurship, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday inaugurated a series of agri-infrastructure facilities and urged young people to develop innovative solutions tailored to the region’s climatic and local challenges.
Sinha also addressed the launch of the startup outreach programme, which brought together researchers, innovators, young entrepreneurs and farmers from across Jammu division, an official press release informed.
It said the LG cautioned the youth of Jammu & Kashmir against simply replicating foreign models, urging them instead to study their own fields, farmers, climate and local challenges, and to build solutions suited to the region’s specific needs.
“Today, there are startups worldwide continuously exploring new possibilities in agriculture and allied sectors. The biggest message from these startups and new innovations is that agriculture and allied sectors themselves are the next big frontier for innovation,” he said after the inauguration of a series of infrastructure projects at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) here.
Sinha said different countries have innovated for their own problems, and now it is time for Jammu & Kashmir to innovate for its own questions and challenges.
Startups globally are exploring new possibilities in agriculture and allied sectors, citing technology-driven initiatives in countries such as the Netherlands, Israel, New Zealand and Brazil, he added.
“The biggest message from these startups and new innovations is that agriculture and allied sectors themselves are the next big frontier for innovation,” Sinha said, urging students to understand their own fields, farmers, climate and local problems and customise solutions accordingly.
The newly inaugurated facilities include the Unnati Girls Hostel, Centre for AI and ML in Agriculture, Centre for Mushroom Research and Innovation, Advanced Sericulture Laboratory and Centre for Digital Media and Publication.
Describing the facilities as more than physical infrastructure, Sinha said they represented a commitment to the region’s innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers and farming families.
The LG said India’s employment aspirations were changing, with youth increasingly seeking to create jobs rather than wait for employment opportunities.
“Your degree is not your destination; rather, it is like a runway for your flight of success. SKUAST-Jammu will give you knowledge, but your curiosity will give you new thoughts and ideas. Your courage will turn that idea into a startup,” he said.
Sinha also called for diversification beyond traditional farming and encouraged young and progressive farmers to explore cold chains, grading and packaging units, regional branding and digital marketplaces to connect Jammu and Kashmir’s agricultural produce with markets in Delhi, Dubai and beyond.
Emphasising women’s role in entrepreneurship, he said no entrepreneurship revolution could be complete without their equal and active participation.
He called upon the university and stakeholders to support women’s self-help groups and farmer producer organisations with access to finance, technology and markets and encourage women entrepreneurs who create employment opportunities for others.
On the Startup Outreach Programme, Sinha said its focus was to reach farmers and rural youth who might not have had prior exposure to incubation, mentoring or venture capital.
SKUAST has so far selected more than 150 students for idea incubation and supported 56 promising startups, while extending its outreach to remote parts of the Jammu region, the LG said while urging the varsity to multiply these numbers and evolve into a genuine bridge between laboratories and markets, scientists and farmers, and technology and ground-level needs.
“Real success of SKUAST-Jammu will not be measured only by how many students graduate from here, but the success of this campus will be measured by how many new ideas were born here, how many solutions to problems were developed here, how many enterprises were established here, and how many farming families’ lives were positively changed by those enterprises,” he said.
The LG called upon students to ask four questions every day during their time on campus- what problem can I solve, what enterprise can I build, what value can I add to agriculture and how many families can benefit from my idea?
“If these four questions keep troubling your mind continuously, then no one can stop you from finding the purpose of your career,” the LG said.
The LG observed that Jammu & Kashmir would increasingly be recognised for innovation, agricultural entrepreneurship and youth leadership in the years ahead.
“Do not make your dreams small. Do not let your circumstances become the limits of your future. Draw strength from your roots, direction from knowledge, speed from technology, and create new paths with your resolve. I am confident that in the coming years, Jammu Kashmir will also be recognized for innovation, agricultural entrepreneurship, science, technology, and youth leadership,” the LG said.
The LG also felicitated eight startups, FPOs and cooperative/rural enterprises for their contributions to agriculture, allied sectors, value addition and rural enterprise development.
Four publications including “Policy Document for Promoting Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in J&K”, “Chronicle of Innovation & Startups under RKVY-RAFTAAR, SKUAST-Jammu”, “Value on the Vine: Economic and Market Dynamics of Vegetables” and “Student’s Rural Exploration Programme (SREP)”, were also released.
