Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, Farooq Khan today reiterated that doubling farmers’ income in shortest possible time is among the Government’s top priorities.
The Advisor made these remarks while chairing a review meeting and ‘Kisan Sammelan’ hosted by J&K Advisory Board for Development of Kisans, here.
The meeting among others was attended by Secretary Agriculture Production Department, Manzoor Ahmed Lone, officers of Agriculture, Floriculture, Sericulture, Apiculture and other allied departments; farmers’ bodies and experts.
The Advisor said it has been the Government’s endeavor to increase farmers’ income manifold through string of schemes and programmes.He maintained that Jammu region has immense potential for floriculture sector and asked the concerned department to involve experts and scientists from SKUAST-J for generating best seed varieties to boost the production .
Terming the Advisory Board as a bridge between farmers and government, the Advisor said that it is best platform to communicate to the end point about schemes and programmes beneficial for the farmer community.
He added that J&K Government is planning to brand famous local agriculture products like Saffron, Basmati, Honey etc which could be sold in national and international markets with J&K’s brand name. He advised the Board to promote cooperative farming to benefit marginal farmers in a big way.
Meanwhile, during the meeting, several farmers presented their suggestions, issues and problems faced by them. The Advisor ensured the farmers that all their genuine issues would be taken up with the concerned quarters.
Secretary APD, Manzoor Ahmed Lone also elaborated on government schemes launched for benefit of farmers.
The meeting discussed the implementation of PM Fasal Bima Yojna in Jammu and Kashmir and release of 2 year pending share of J&K to enable the companies to settle the claims of the farmers.
The meeting decided that the government would send assessment teams to the areas where damages to crops have been reported due to heavy rains.
The meeting also discussed the role of Animal Husbandry, Sheep Husbandry and Fisheries sectors in doubling the farmers’ income.
The meeting decided to hold frequent farmer awareness programmes, besides educational and expositional tours for farmers to outside J&K, enabling them to gain expertise in agriculture mechanization.
Earlier, Advisor Khan held a public grievance camp at Convention Center Jammu, where he met with scores of deputations and individuals.
The deputations and individuals put forth their issues and grievances and sought intervention of the Advisor for early redress of the same. He assured early redress of all genuine demands.
A deputation from Dhindoan Rajouri demanded a community bore well in their area. Similarly, another deputation from Raj Pora, Magotrian, Jammu sought Advisor’s intervention into the execution of sanctioned development works in their area.
Other deputations and individuals hailing from different areas of Jammu and Kashmir flagged their issues and demands for immediate redress.
Responding to grievances and demands, the Advisor directed the concerned officials to resolve their complaints in a time-bound manner.