J&K Targets Training for 2 Lakh Farmers on New Tech

Jammu, Dec 7 (PTI) Jammu and Kashmir Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo on Thursday set a target of imparting hands-on training to at least 2 lakh farmers on new techniques and technology in the next five years in the Union territory.

This was conveyed to various departmental heads by the chief secretary during a detailed review of the schemes under implementation here to revamp all the sectors of agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry and fisheries in J&K.

"In order to enhance the capacity of our farmers, it is imperative to give them hands-on training about the use of new techniques and technology. The departments should be targeting at least 2 lakh farmers for imparting such training in the next 5 years period," Dulloo said.

He advised the departments to designate public and private farms of agriculture, poultry, dairy, sheep or honey in each block and nominate a trainer for each of them to bring knowledge of labs into practice in the field.

Dulloo further shared that an extensive baseline survey of about 20,000-25,000 farmers from different areas should be carried out to know about their concerns, expectations, priorities, income, and awareness in addition to taking into consideration the fertility, profile, cropping pattern, weather and use of inputs and machinery by the farmers.

The chief secretary observed that the agriculture sector plays a pivotal role in changing our economy for the better as it has not yet been harnessed optimally as per our innate potential.

He said that there are a number of centrally sponsored schemes (CSS) along with HADP currently under implementation in the UT that can be game changers in this direction if implemented successfully.

He asked for a symbiotic relationship between agricultural universities and departments to take advantage of the resources and infrastructure available to them to obtain desired outcomes in revolutionising the agricultural sector.

As far as bringing further ease to the farmers of J&K is concerned, the chief secretary asked for simplified procedures for availing different government-sponsored benefits.