Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Oct 15: Advisor to Governor Khurshid Ahmad Ganai today reviewed the implementation of various State and Centrally Sponsored Schemes of Agriculture and Horticulture sector.
The meeting was attended by Secretary Agriculture, Manzoor Ahmad Lone, Vice Chancellor SKUAST Nazeer Ahmad, Director Agriculture Kashmir, Syed Altaf Aijaz Andrabi, Director Agriculture Jammu, HK Razdan, Director Horticulture Kashmir, Shahnawaz Bukhari, Director Horticulture Jammu, Anuradha Gupta, Director Finance (Horticulture) Dr SK Sen, Director Finance (Agriculture) RK Rakwal, Director Planning and Monitoring SKUAST, Deepak Kher, Director CAA Jammu, Jatinder Singh, MD HPMC, Shafat Sultan, Director Sericulture, Gulzar Ahmad and other senior officers of the department.
The Advisor reviewed the implementation of various Centrally and State Sponsored Schemes and the projects taken up under PMDP. He urged the officers to implement the schemes in letter and spirit for the benefit of the farmers and fruit growers of the State.
The meeting was informed that there is an approved allocation of Rs 86.36 crores under Capex and NABARD in agriculture sector and Rs 24.18 crore have been spend by the end of September this year. It was given out in the meeting that under PMDP, the Department of Agriculture spent an amount of Rs 16.86 crore till September this year while under various Centrally Sponsored Schemes, an amount of Rs 66.10 crore has been released for the current financial year for various schemes.
Stressing on the need to increase the production of horticulture produce, Advisor said that there is an average yield of 10-11 metric tons per hectare in the State while the yield is 40- 50 MTs/Ha in advanced countries. He said there is need to switch from traditional plantation to high density plantation.
The Advisor called for exploring possibilities for providing modern equipment and implement modern scientific technologies in farming for progressive farmers to ease out their ways of farming besides increasing agriculture and horticulture production.
He emphasized on bridging the gap between farmers and officers of the Department and exhorted upon them to impart technical skills for improving their agricultural produce
He directed to expedite the pace of work for implementation of schemes to achieve the set target within given time span.
The Advisor stressed on encouraging farmers to adopt rainwater harvesting to ensure better availability and utilization of water for irrigation purposes.
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