SRINAGAR: The Director of Agriculture Kashmir, Chowdhury Mohammad Iqbal today visited the Kunzar, and Tangmarg areas of Baramulla District and inaugurated an interaction programme for the apiarists or beekeepers of the said areas.
Addressing the event, the Director of Agriculture highlighted the importance of small-scale agriculture cottage industries like Bee-Keeping/Apiculture and mushroom cultivation for small and marginal farmers. He asked the farmers to go for diversification in agriculture activities. He said that diversification contributes to the economic security of the farming community against changes in Climate and Soil resources.
Director Agriculture said multi-crore projects have been approved by the government under Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) for the promotion of apiculture in the UT of J&K. He said the promotion of apiculture and mushroom are among the 29 projects recently approved after being recommended by the UT level apex Committee for holistic agriculture development programme.
Chowdhury Iqbal assured the concerned farmers of every possible technical support from the department. He asked the concerned officers to put in all the efforts for the successful implementation of a different programme aimed to promote agricultural activities like apiculture and mushroom among the small and marginal farmers of the region.
He also marked the importance of raising awareness among the farmers regarding the Apiculture/ Mushroom Centric Schemes & programmes so that more and more educated youth could be attracted towards these enterprises.
The Director of Agriculture assured beekeepers of different facilities including marketing facilities so that they could fetch maximum returns for their produce. He said that their genuine issues would be addressed on a priority basis.
Joint Director Agriculture Inputs Mohammed Younis Chowdhury, DDC Kunzer Nazir Ahmad Shaikh, Tehsildar Kunzar, SDAO Tangmarg, Apiculture Development officers Baramulla, AEO Kunzer, and a large number of apiculturists were present on the occasion.
