Shopian: Director Agriculture Kashmir Chowdhary Mohammad Iqbal today convened a meeting of senior officers of Shopian district to review the physical and financial progress on the implementation of centrally sponsored schemes, flagship programs and CAPEX budget.
Speaking on the occasion, Director Agriculture said the Department is aiming to double the income of farmers and for that a multi dimensional approach has been adopted. He asked the officers to work for the promotion of niche crops in the district.
Director Agriculture marked the importance of organic and exotic vegetable cultivation in the district. He appreciated the concerned officers for their role in bringing more and more areas under the cultivation of Rabi Crops especially oilseeds.
Director Agriculture said that as per the holistic document for the development of agriculture in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir the Department under one of its components is focusing on seed production of different agriculture crops and in this direction primary seed producers are being identified so that they could be connected to the seed production chain. He said the idea behind is not only to achieve self reliance in seed production of different agriculture crops but to supply seed to other parts of the country as well.
While talking about the expenditures Director Agriculture impressed upon the concerned officers that every penny allocated for the farmers of Kashmir Division under different centrally sponsored schemes must be judiciously utilized for the welfare of farmers and the development of farming sector in a time bound manner. He said the funds earmarked for different components must be fully utilized.
Chowdhury Iqbal asked the concerned officer to work in coordination with district administration during the implementation of different initiatives at district level. He asked the officers to reach out to the farmers of far-flung areas and make them aware about the latest farmer centric technologies in agriculture sector. He asked the officers to work in collaboration with the representatives of panchayat Raj institutions for the successful implementation of different schemes at grass root level.
During the meeting different centrally sponsored schemes being implemented by the department including CAPEX, RKVY, MIDH, ATMA, NFSM, PM KISAN, SOIL Health Card Scheme, KISAN Credit Card Scheme etc. were discussed in detail.
The meeting was attended Deputy Director Agriculture (planning)Mohammad Younis Chowdhury, Chief Agriculture Officer Shopian Farooq Ahmad, Sub- divisional Agriculture Officer Shopian Nazir Ahmad, Sub- divisional Agriculture Officer Keller, ASCO Shopian Rattan Sharma, SMS Keller Avtar Singh among others were present in the meeting.

KR Desk