Srinagar: The Director Agriculture Kashmir, Chowdhary Mohammad Iqbal, today inaugurated an induction workshop for Agripreneurship on entrepreneurship development in Jammu and Kashmir.
The Agriculture Department jointly with the National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development (NIESBUD) Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Government of India organized the workshop at the conference hall Agriculture complex Lalmandi Srinagar.
The Director in his inaugural address on the occasion highlighted the importance of entrepreneurship culture among the farming community.
Marking various opportunities in the sector, he said that the diverse agro-climatic conditions in the region offer a wide range of opportunities to the entrepreneurs in the agriculture sector. “We can produce different vegetables and agriculture crops at times when the rest of the country is not able to produce fresh vegetables and that allows us to explore the marketing avenues and fetch good returns for our produce,” he added.
The Director said that the entrepreneurs from Jammu and Kashmir had a great scope in agri- tourism and other allied wings. He asked the educated youth to come forward and adopt Agri entrepreneurship because in our region, it is in the early stages and there is a very vast potential in the sector.
Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Poonam Sinha Director, EE, NIESBUD briefed the entrepreneurs about the different programs by National Institute for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development and various opportunities in the entrepreneurship sector. She expressed her views on the scope of entrepreneurship in Jammu and Kashmir, handholding and mentoring of entrepreneurs, value addition, marketing of the produce at national and international level.
She asked the participating entrepreneurs to become job providers rather than job seekers adding that the promotion of entrepreneurship culture among the farming community could make a big difference and will contribute to the overall development of the economy.
Guest speakers on the occasion including D.K. Singh Chief Consultant NIESBUD gave a detailed lecture on agripreneurship and agripreneual opportunities, Government schemes and support ecosystem for agripreneurs.
P.K. Arora Senior Advisor NIESBUD briefed the session on agriculture marketing and P K. Senior Advisor NIESBUD gave lecture on type of enterprises and procedure and formalities for bank finance.
Earlier, Joint Director Agriculture Marketing Mohammad Qasim Gani presented a detailed report regarding the various initiatives taken up by the Agriculture Marketing Wing of the Department for the promotion of entrepreneurship in agriculture sector and the marketing of different vegetables and other agriculture crops at national and international level.
A number of entrepreneurs participated in the session and put forth their queries regarding various sectors, recent innovations and support for the entrepreneurs.
Joint Director Agriculture Extension Mohammad Sayeed Peer, Joint Director Agriculture Marketing Mohammad Qasim Gani, Joint Director Agriculture Inputs Farooq Ahmad Bhat, Joint Director Agriculture and Mushrooms Tabasum Naaz and other officers also participated in the workshop.
