Nishikant Khajuria
JAMMU, Oct 13: Describing modern day farming as AgriTech StartUp and farmers as AgriTech Entrepreneurs, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh today predicted that Jammu and Kashmir among other Himalayan States would make significant value addition in future Indian economy from the resources which have not been explored so far in agriculture sector in northern belt and sea wealth on the shores in southern region.
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“In the next 25 years of AmrtiKal, Jammu & Kashmir among several hill territories in the Himalayan States are going to make a significant value addition to build India’s future economy because these are the territories whose resources have remained under-utilized in the past. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi giving a focussed attention to these areas, they are going to play a pivotal role in placing India on the world pedestal by 2047,” he said while talking to media persons, on the sidelines of an international conference on “Sustainable Agricultural Innovation for Resilient Agri-Food Systems”, which began today at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST) Jammu.
Stating that agricultural resources in Himalayan region were not explored fully so far, the Union Minister said that a series of initiatives has been taken in this regard in the last eight years.
“PM Modi-led Government has always given priority to the Agriculture sector and in this regard, consistent efforts have been made such as issuing Soil Health Cards, Neem Urea, doubling farmers income, etc,” he said and hastened to add that need of the hour was to change the mindset about the StartUps, which are generally considered as relating to IT and electronics only.
“We forget or ignore that Agritech StartUps are new and big attractions and here in J&K, Purple Revolution has rolled out offering attractive avenues and those who have entered the lavender sector are making a fortune out of it,” he said and stressed that a wider publicity and awareness about these new opportunities of livelihood are required.
Earlier, addressing in inaugural session of the conference, the Union Minister enumerated a series of pro-agriculture reforms introduced by the Modi Government and said several pathbreaking decisions like new guidelines for geospatial technology and relaxation in the regulations for developing Drone are also enabling provisions for today’s agriculture entrepreneurs and agri-startups.
Referring to the theme of the conference i.e. “Sustainable Agricultural Innovations for Resilient Agri-Food Systems”, Dr Jitendra Singh said sustainable innovations are the prerequisites for sustainable StartUps and sustainable means of livelihood. To achieve this, he emphasised the importance of linking with industry right from the beginning and making industry an equal stakeholder so that the research projects are determined by the requirements of the industry.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, healthy, sustainable and inclusive food systems are critical to achieve the world’s development goals but there was also need to address the climate related issues to avoid their adverse effect on agriculture sector.
He said, agriculture, forestry, and land use change are responsible for about 25 percent of greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation in the agriculture sector is part of the solution to climate change. “The areas which will ensure sustainability of agriculture are genetic innovations for climate-resilient agri-food systems, pest management innovations, biodiversity conservation, carbon neutrality and reducing use of fossil fuels in agriculture,” he added.
In his concluding remarks, the Union Minister said the challenges of 21st Century ranging from climate changes to pest attacks and conflicts could pose a threat but he was convinced that agricultural scientists were capable enough to help India lead the way.
The three-day international conference is being organized by Indian Ecological Society, in collaboration with SKUAST-Jammu.
At the outset, Dr Rajinder Peshin, Organizing Secretary and Coordinator of Indian Ecological Society and International Conference-2022, said that around 300 delegates are participating in the conference.
Dr A K Dhawan, President & Co-Chair of IES, briefed about the activities of Indian Ecological Society. Dr Muni Muniappan, Director, Virginia Tech University, USA and Dr K B Kathiria, Vice Chancellor, Anand Agricultural University also spoke on the occasion.
During the inaugural session, Dr Mahalingam Govindaraj was awarded Norman E Borlaug Award endowed by Rockefeller Foundation for his pioneering work and contribution in field research and application. Fellowship awards of the Indian Ecological Society-2022 were given to Dr Vikas Jindal. Dr Vijay Kumar, Dr K K Sood and Dr Vininder Kour.
Dr Narinder Singh Raina, Ashok Koul, dignitaries from different countries, statutory officers of the University, staff members and students were also present on the occasion. Vote of thanks was presented by Dr K S Risam, Co-Chair IESIC-2022 and former Vice-Chancellor SKUAST-Jammu.
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