Excelsior Correspondent
SAMBA, July 6: Principal Secretary, Agriculture Production & Farmers Welfare Department, Navin Kumar Choudhary today inaugurated a new Seed Processing Plant of 4 Tonnes Per Hour (TPH) capacity at SIDCO Industrial Complex Samba.
Establishment of this first of its kind unit in private sector in J&K is an effort to meet the increasing demand of certified seeds by the farmers of Jammu division.
District Development Commissioner, Anuradha Gupta, Director CAD, S Rajinder Singh Tara, Director Agriculture, Jammu, K K Sharma, Director Horticulture, Ram Sevak, Director, Animal Husbandry, Vivek Sharma, Joint Director, Mushroom and Apiculture Development, Iqbal Singh and Chief Agriculture Officer, Samba, Sanjay Verma were present on the occasion
The Principal Secretary expressed hope that opening of this Seed Processing Unit will motivate the farmers to shift from traditional crop production to seed production business. This would be a significant addition to the initiatives being taken up by the government towards achieving the target of doubling farmer’s income. He emphasized to promote the registered seed growers in the nearby areas so that actual benefit of this unit is extended to the farming community.
“This seed processing unit at Samba will open up a new vistas for the farmers of Jammu, Samba and Kathua districts in the field of certified seed production on cluster basis”, Navin maintained.
Later, Principal Secretary chaired a review meeting of agriculture and allied departments at DC office Samba.
The meeting also discussed other allied sectors including Animal Husbandry, Horticulture (Planning & Marketing), Sheep Husbandry, Fisheries besides reviewing schemes including E-NAM, market linkages, ODOP, KCC and IDDS.
Principal Secretary emphasized on formulating area specific holistic development plans with maximum participation of local community. He directed the concerned officers to further increase the cultivation area with focus on replacing low yield crop with high yield crops. “Plants of aloe vera, mushroom, lemon grass, soya beans, guava, mango and amla are ideal to be planted in this region for enhancing production of agro products”, he added.
During the meeting, Rajinder Singh Tara, Director Command Area Development, Jammu, Vivek Sharma, Director Animal Husbandry, Jammu, Ram Sevak, Director Horticulture, Krishan Lal, Director, Sheep Husbandry Department, K K Sharma, Director Agriculture Production and Farmer’s Welfare Department, Jammu, Arun Manhas, MD JK Agro Industries Development Corporation, ADDC, Joint Director, Mushroom and Apiculture Development, Iqbal Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer, Chief Horticulture Officer and others were present.
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