Vegetable cultivation in Urban areas of J&K

Dr. Banarsi Lal, Dr. Pawan Sharma
Jammu and Kashmir is a hilly state with varied topography and great agro biodiversity. Agriculture is the backbone of the economy of Jammu and Kashmir with over 70 percent of its population depends on agriculture and allied sectors. Around 30 per cent of the area of the state is under cultivation. The state has immense agricultural potential as it is bestowed with different agro-climatic conditions in different regions of the state. The hilly terrains are tough and this causes a lot of hurdles to the inhabitants of the state for the procurement of quality agro- inputs, awareness and trainings. From time to time farmers of the state have adopted several area specific and time specific modern cultivation practices to mitigate the food requirement of the increasing population. But still the state is facing the low productivity of almost all the agricultural crops as against national average yields. Rice, maize, wheat, pulses, fodder, oil seeds, fruits such as apple, walnut, mango and vegetables such as radish, tomato, okra are the main crops in the state. The state agriculture is affected by the capital inadequacy, lack of infrastructural support and lack of storage, sale and transportation facilities for agricultural produce. Dwindling water resources too is another challenge as only 42 percent of the cultivated area is under irrigation. Hilly areas and low size of land holding also limits the use of high tech farm machineries in the state. Hilly areas are also prone to soil erosion and in many areas of the state only the single cropping system is available. With the increase in the population in the urban and peri-urban areas of J&K the demand of  quality vegetables is increasing in and around urban areas of the state and there is need to put great attention for the production of vegetables in urban and peri-urban areas of the state. There is need to promote large potentialities and advantages of the urban and peri-urban vegetables production systems in the state. Most of the vegetables consumed in J&K state are transported from the adjoining states. The state has the potential to produce the vegetables not only in rural areas but also in urban and peri-urban areas.
The total geographical area of this state is 2, 22, 236 sq. km and its population is 1, 25, 48,926 as per 2011 Census. In this state Jammu region is predominantly sub-tropical while Kashmir and Ladakh regions are temperate. Like many other states of the country, people from rural areas of Jammu and Kashmir are migrating towards the urban areas in search of income and employment. Increasing urbanization in the cities of J&K has increased the urban poverty. Cities of J&K are not able to generate sufficient income opportunities for the rapidly growing population. The costs of supplying and distributing agricultural commodities from rural areas to the urban areas are continuously rising and it is expected that urban food insecurity will increase in future. Food prices are increasing which is an emerging problem for the poor urban consumers.  Urban and peri-urban areas of the state have immense scope as it can create employment and generate extra income for the urban poor people. Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu (SKUAST-J) is promoting vegetables growing in the urban and peri-urban areas of the province. Krishi Vigyan Kendras (KVKs) are also promoting vegetables growing in the urban areas of the respective districts so that the vegetables requirements in the urban and peri-urban areas of the districts can be mitigated. Vegetables cultivation in the urban and peri-urban areas of the state can help the urban and peri-urban poor people to generate the extra income to mitigate their basic needs. Recently the green belts are being developed by the government in the urban areas which provide an intensive opportunity for the vegetables cultivation for the urban vegetables growers. There is need to involve large number of institutions in the cities to create awareness on vegetables growing in the urban and peri-urban areas of the state in a participatory approach to mitigate the requirements for the fresh vegetables for the urban population. In urban areas there is lot of unemployment and many families can generate the income and employment by growing the vegetables for the home use and for sale. Poor people consume their larger proportion of income for food. Thus, the vegetables growing can help for the food and economic security for the urban poor people.
Vegetables are rich source of nutrients as they are rich in vitamins, proteins, carbohydrates and minerals. The agricultural universities are promoting the vegetables growing in the urban and peri-urban areas. The vegetables growers in the urban and peri-urban areas can avoid the post- harvest losses of the vegetables as there are facilities of transportation in the urban areas and they can provide more fresh vegetables to the city dwellers at their doorsteps. There is need to maintain the quality of vegetables from the farm to the consumers. Water quality is also an important concern for the production of vegetables in the urban and peri-urban areas. The water used in the production of vegetables can be polluted by the urban industries and domestic wastes. There is need to aware/train the farmers from the urban and peri-urban areas so that they can use the modern technologies in the vegetables production and produce quality vegetables. They should be guided to use the organic inputs for the production of organic vegetables.
It has been observed by the agricultural universities that in a plot of 6m x 6m approximately 250-500 kgs. of fresh vegetables can be produced per year. Vegetables produced from the home garden can supply to a family of four to six with 200 grams of vegetables per person per day. In urban and peri-urban areas many institutions unutilized lands like schools, colleges, hospitals, prisons, factories, roof tops, community gardens, home gardens etc. can be used for the vegetables growing. A vegetable growing in the urban and peri-urban areas tends to be more subsistence oriented.  Transportation costs can be minimized by growing the vegetables in the urban and peri-urban areas. The growers in these areas need not to involve the middlemen for the sale of vegetables. Now the urbanization is increasing at a faster rate leading to increase in the poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, food and economic insecurity in the urban areas. Cities are unable to cope with the population pressure leading to decrease in the urban shelter, social and economic security, basic services and degradation in the environment. It is hoped that the vegetables growing in the urban and peri-urban areas of J&K will help in the sustainable development of the state.

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