Kishtwar : Director Agriculture Jammu, Anil Gupta Thursday undertook an extensive tour of District Kishtwar to review the ongoing activities and progress of the departmental schemes being implemented in the district.
At the CAO Office, the Director chaired a detailed review meeting to assess the physical and financial progress of Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS), CAPEX, Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP), NABARD and JKCIP.
The Chief Agriculture Officer, Kaushal Chandel briefed the Director about the ongoing development works and achievements under different programmes.
The Director Agriculture issued clear instructions to ensure timely implementation, optimum utilisation of funds, quality execution of works and enhanced field-level monitoring, while stressing convergence with allied departments for achieving better results on ground.
Later, the Director Agriculture inspected Hi-Tech Polyhouse established by beneficiary Ashok Kumar residence of village Jailna, where he interacted with the beneficiary and appreciated the adoption of protected cultivation for enhancing productivity and farmers’ income. He also visited the Kisan Khidmat Ghar (KKG) at village Pochhal and interacted with Krishi Udhaymis.
Director, Anil Gupta further inspected low-cost polyhouses and vermicompost units established under HADP and emphasised their role in promoting sustainable, low-input agriculture while improving soil health and farm profitability. He encouraged farmers to adopt such cost-effective technologies on a larger scale.
During the tour, the Director Agriculture also visited the saffron-growing fields in the Pochhal area and Saffron Development Farm at Berwar, where he interacted with saffron growers and field functionaries to assess the on-ground progress of saffron cultivation.
The Director also inspected the ongoing works of the Controlled Condition Cropping Unit at the Saffron Farm. He took stock of the ongoing interventions under the programme and addressed the challenges being faced by the farmers.
He issued specific directions to the Saffron Development Officer to strengthen extension services, ensure proper upkeep of infrastructure and provide timely technical guidance to saffron growers.
Emphasising the need for area expansion under saffron cultivation in Kishtwar, the Director stated that the district possesses favourable agro-climatic conditions for saffron. He stressed that identification of new potential areas, availability of quality planting material and focused interventions would help in expanding acreage, enhancing production and creating new livelihood opportunities for farmers, while positioning Kishtwar as an emerging saffron-growing district.
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