In order to modernize the agriculture sector, the Jammu and Kashmir administration plans to implement 29 projects worth more than Rs 500 crore beginning this year.
These projects, dubbed 'Holistic Development,' aim at the holistic development and promotion of agriculture and allied sectors so that farmers in Jammu and Kashmir can maximize profits and create job opportunities in the agriculture sector. Last year, a committee comprised of experts from the agriculture sector formed these projects.
The farmers of Kashmir Valley appear to be very pleased with the government's initiative. They believe that implementing these schemes will provide them with financial benefits. They stated that agriculture modernization is critical because agriculture employs the majority of the people in the Kashmir valley.
"A holistic project is critical to increasing our production and earning a double profit. We applaud the authorities' initiative," a farmer said.
While providing information about these holistic projects, Iqbal Chaudhry, Director of the Agriculture Department, stated that the agriculture sector and other related sectors contribute more than 18% of Jammu and Kashmir's GDP and employ more than 1.3 lakh people.
Farmers have become dissatisfied with low production, climate change, and other farming challenges, he claims, and they are looking for alternatives.
Chaudhry went on to say that the projects will be carried out through a plan of action to increase crop production in the Kashmir valley, and that the youth will become entrepreneurs from the production, which will provide them with employment. According to him, the goal of this policy is to develop nineteen thousand young entrepreneurs who will employ more than three lakh people.
The Director stated that vegetables, mustard, saffron, millets, basmati rice, and other such crops (cash crops) that farmers can profit from have received the most attention. He stated that the farmers' goal for the next two years is to double the yield of these crops, and that they must use less labour, fertilisers, and other inputs in the cultivation of these crops to maximise profit.
