The other day, while addressing a function at SKAUST (J), Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister while stressed the economic potential of agriculture and allied sectors, suggesting, focusing on these sectors can significantly transform J&K’s economy thus reducing the dependency on imports for many necessities, such as dairy products, meat, and oilseeds. He advocated efforts aiming at producing these locally through import substitution emphasizing that if surplus production is achieved, we can sell it outside, leading to a positive shift in J&K’s economy. However, the CM regretted that when we discuss progress, we focus on factories, tourism, and facilities for pilgrims at religious places and sadly, the contribution of farmers and the agriculture and allied sectors often goes unnoticed,
Jammu and Kashmir has been lavishly bestowed with a wealth of resources by nature, which if exploited judiciously and scientifically could unburden people from seemingly unavoidable dependence on neighbouring states for essential commodities like food-grains. The soil of the UT is very fertile and the yield per hectare could be astounding if only the farmers of the UT develop scientific outlook and then take to latest farming techniques. The optimum beauty of the place reinforces sweetness in every crop and produce that grows around here. But unfortunately this is not the whole picture of the state of agriculture in the UT. Fact of the matter remains that Jammu and Kashmir desperately lags behind in agriculture and allied sectors so much so that the UT is not able to fulfill its own needs of food. Doubtlessly the economic condition of the UT is very precarious and agriculture is the sector that could bail it out. But this is possible only if people, and the educated young lot in particular, also start thinking of agriculture and related sectors as a sphere of activity to opt for a career in. As of now, this doesn’t seem to be happening. Instead over-reliance on the government jobs, continues to remain a huge impediment in way of individual as well as collective progress and prosperity here.
On its part, government also shares a lot of blame, for it has not accorded agriculture kind of priority it deserved and nothing much has been done to popularize it and develop it on scientific lines. But having said this, it also remains an uncomfortable reality that people of the Union Territory, and ironically mostly the rural-folk have been running only after the government jobs. Although there is nothing wrong in people with farming background taking to some other jobs, but often this comes at the cost of agriculture. No wonder one of the major problems confronting us is the transformation of our agrarian agricultural lands into concrete jungles. This was, and is bound to happen because when farmer’s children opt for some other jobs other than farming, the agricultural land of the family gets automatically relegated into a material piece of property. This land is then sold off, even if for a fortune, but it very rarely gets recycled into a state wherein it would again contribute to production of food. Of course it wouldn’t have been so had the farming and allied activities been marketed here properly. If only the people are told and practically shown that investing their brain and brawn work in farming ensures far better returns than what landing in a government job provide – there is some hope of change in the general mindset here.
