Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, July 1: As a part of initiatives to improve the quality of Basmati rice of Jammu, a one-day workshop on “Quality Improvement in Production of Export Quality Basmati Rice” was organized at village: Kotli-Matkalian of Zone Ramgarh (Samba) by the Department of Agriculture, Jammu in which more than 100 Basmati growers and Panch/Sarpanchs of the area participated.
On the occasion, Director Agriculture, Jammu Dr S S Jamwal spoke in detail about the various strategies being adopted under Basmati Mission for revival and promotion of Jammu Basmati Rice. He said that scented Basmati is the “Shan and Pehchan” of Jammu. Dr Jamwal also advised farmers to form Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) to utilize agriculture machinery, collective storage and marketing of their basmati.
He asked the farmers not to leave the land fallow and should grow short duration crops of moong, mash or fodder during the period in between the major crops.
Joint Director Agriculture (Extension), Jammu A. K. Malhotra asked the Basmati growers to make all out efforts to increase the yield and improve the quality of Basmati rice by adopting the latest technologies.
SMS (DL) K. K. Sharma gave a detailed lecture on good agricultural practices for production of export quality Basmati rice and its purification of seed by selection.
Earlier Chief Agriculture Officer, Samba Kulbushan Singh Sambyal, in his welcome address spoke about the various programmes and the steps being taken up by the department for promotion of Basmati.
Progressive farmers, Sarpanchs and Panchs participated in the interactive session with the scientists of SKUAST (J) and officers of the department.
Dr Anil Sharma, Scientist, KVK, Jammu and Dr A. K. Singh, Scientist, KVK, Kathua gave replies to the various queries on technical and varietal aspects of the basmati cultivation. Chander Mohan Sharma, Deputy Director Agriculture (Central), Jammu, Jagdish C. Raina, Information Officer, Kuldeep Peshin, AEO Ramgarh, Yog Raj Singh, AEO, Vijaypur and JAEOs of the department participated in the interaction workshop.
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