JAMMU : Maintaining that agriculture is one of the vital sectors responsible for state’s economy, Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir today said government has accorded focused attention to further strengthen this sector by evolving new and innovative measures.
“Agriculture is one of the vital sectors responsible for state’s economy. Government has accorded focused attention to further strengthen this sector by evolving new and innovative measures”, the minister said while replying to the demand of grants of his departments in the Legislative Assembly today.
For this purpose, the government has earmarked a whooping Rs 100 crore for various agricultural projects under NABARD.
The Minister said that enhancing production and productivity of food grains is the thrust area for the government to make the state self-reliant and several measures have been taken in this regard.
He said seed replacement has been given special impetus so that the government can provide quality seeds to the farmers, adding that the seed replacement rate which was earlier as minimal as 10 per cent has become more than the national average for wheat and oats, whileas for rice the seed replacement rate has increased to more than 25 per cent.
The step is aimed to increase the productivity and to make the state self reliant in food items, he added.
To make the agriculture sector more profitable and attractive for the youth of the state, the Minister said efforts have already been made for mechanisation in the sector to woo youth to adopt this sector as a profession.
He said the younger generation is shying away from this profession and are mostly choosing the government jobs, but agriculture is the richest sector which can bring more prosperity for the youth and they can contribute to the state in improving the economy as well.
The advanced mechanisation in agriculture and diversification of crops will be made another thrust area and farmers will be educated to adopt cash crops, he said.
Owing to the importance of this sector, the Minister said in the history of state agriculture, this sector has been kept totally tax free to facilitate the farmers community to infuse technological innovations for enhancing productivity.
The government has also taken important measures for making easy agriculture credit facility to the farmers at low interest rate at the time of need, he said and added that 4 lakh Kissan Credit Cards (KCCs) have been issued and an amount of Rs 1,300 crore has been disbursed among the KCC holders during the current fiscal.
Highlighting the importance of Saffron, the Minister said Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in the country which produces this precious commodity and to promote this sector the government has launched an exclusive National Saffron Mission with an objective to introduce latest agriculture techniques for enhancing its quality production and marketability.
This has helped the saffron growers to bring more areas under Saffron cultivation, he added.
On the development of horticulture sector, the Minister said that several initiatives have been taken by the government during the past couple of years.
He said to handle the post harvesting management, the government has increased the cold storage capacity for the fresh fruits in the state.
On Crop Insurance, the Minister said that government is keen to bring all important crops under the insurance cover to safeguard the interests of farmers.
The government has succeeded to bring three fruit crops namely, apple, cherry and mango under the insurance cover on pilot basis. This will be great help to the farmers, said the Minister.
Mir said Floriculture is also one of the main components of state’s economy and government has given special thrust to promote this sector on commercial lines.
During the past some years the state has produced large variety of quality flowers and met the domestic requirement, besides supplied to the other states.
He said the government provides handsome subsidy to the farmers to promote floriculture and there is tremendous response, the Minister said.
The Minister further said that Sericulture and Agro Industries have also shown upward trends during the past some years. The Government has taken several steps to improve their functioning as well, he added.
Listing the achievements of Sericulture Department, the Minister said during the year 2008-09 the Department’s total turnover was Rs 4 crore, but this rose to Rs 20 crore during the previous fiscal.
The government has also fixed the support price of cocoon at Rs 500 per kg as against Rs 200 per kg. During th past some years, the people have shown great interest in this sector and more and more beneficiaries are approaching the department for availing the benefits, he added.
Earlier, the Minister moved a demand for grant of a sum of Rs 1,224.03 crore to defray the charges which will come in the course of payment during the year ending March 31, 2015 for the departments under his charge.
Later, the members, who moved the Cut Motions on the Grants, withdrew after the satisfactory reply from the Minister and the House passed the Grants by a voice vote. (AGENCIES)
Follow our WhatsApp channel