SRINAGAR: Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Agriculture Production Department, Atal Dulloo, today reviewed the implementation of certain schemes being executed under the ambitious Holistic Agriculture Development Plan (HADP) during a meeting held with concerned officers and other stakeholders.
The meeting was attended by Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-K; Directors of Sericulture; Agriculture and Horticulture Jammu and Kashmir besides other concerned officers.
ACS impressed upon the officers to implement the holistic plan in its entirety keeping its aims and objectives in mind. He asked them to do all the preliminary work beforehand regarding issuing tenders, procurement, and management of human resources.
He asked them to maintain all standards of transparency by framing thorough specifications of tender documents for timely procurement and utilization of resources. He stressed on accepting applications for all the components exclusively through online mode on its portal from the public. He made out that the same has been launched with the aim of ensuring transparency, accountability, and fairness.
Dulloo also took note of the position of funds available under each scheme of this plan. He assured that all requirements raised during the meeting would be taken into account for early resolution. He also directed the officers to submit deliverables under each of the components so that these are completed within the set timeframe.
ACS exhorted upon the officers to ensure that all projects being executed under HADP are completed within the set timelines. He was apprised that all the preliminary preparations and consultations with the stakeholders are apace and going to be implemented in letter and spirit within its set timeframe.
The sub-projects taken up for discussion during the meeting included the Development of Seed & Seed Multiplication chain, the Promotion of Niche Crops, the Promotion of Vegetable/Exotic Vegetables under open and protected cultivation, Strengthening of Agriculture Marketing in UT, Medicinal & Aromatic Plants, Beekeeping, Promotion of Sericulture, Promotion of Millets and Nutri-cereals, Farm Mechanization Automation besides Promotion of year-round Mushroom Cultivation.
Some of the works which were also deliberated upon during the meeting included 100% off-take of seeds, framing of the strategy document for the development of breeder and foundation seeds, the establishment of 500 CSPs/SPOs, engagement of 12000 primary seed producers, Promotion and expansion of area under crops like Saffron, Kala Zeera, Chilli, Mushkbudj, Red Rice, etc.
Similarly, the meeting discussed the creation of new mandies, the establishment of CA stores, the creation of Agriculture Branding Centres, a Market Intelligence Cell, area expansion under Medicinal & Aromatic Plants besides establishment of a Centre of Excellence on Herbal technology and beekeeping.
The avenues like the development of 10 lakh mulberry plants, the establishment of Chawki Rearing Centres, Certified seed production of 2000 Quintal of High Yielding Varieties at Departmental farms, expansion of area under millets by 6000 Ha, Mechanization of Public Sector farms, the establishment of AI and Precision Farming Centers, Procurement of new strains of Mushrooms and establishment of 26 Pasteurized Compost Making Units and 72 Controlled conditioned cropping units, etc also came up under discussion during this meeting.
The plan includes a total of twenty-nine projects. These projects based on the principles of economy, equity & ecology shall transform the agricultural economy of J&K putting it on a new trajectory of growth, almost doubling the output of the sectors, boosting exports, and making the sectors sustainable & commercially viable. This will herald a new phase of farmer prosperity and rural livelihood security in J&K. The agricultural output which stands at Rs 37600 crore shall increase with a resultant increment in sectoral growth rate to 11%.
Moreover, the interventions would result in creating employment opportunities for over 2.8 lakh youth and establishing around 19,000 enterprises. More than 2.5 lakh persons shall be skilled in various agri-enterprises ranging from seed production, precision farming of vegetables, bee-rearing, cocoon production, mushroom farming, integrated & organic agriculture, high-density fruit farming to processing, dairying, sheep & poultry farming as well as fodder production. In the next five years, the UT shall have a motivated workforce with agri-entrepreneurial skills in a commercially viable and ecologically sustainable agri-ecosystem, as is envisaged with the completion of this holistic development plan.
