PULWAMA, DECEMBER 10: The Director Agriculture Kashmir, Chowdhary Mohammad Iqbal today convened a meeting of senior officers of Pulwama 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 said Department is aiming to double the income of farmers and for that a multi dimensional approach has been adopted.Rice is the staple food of the region and when it comes to cultivation Pulwama is a special case, to explore every possible opportunity in this crop all the efforts must be put in place so that income of the farmers associated with its cultivation could be increased, he further said.He asked the officers to work for the promotion of niche crops in the district and highlighted the importance of saffron and said that by GI Tagging this crop has gained a global reputation.Director 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 oilseed. He said the department has introduced the fodder crop like Burseem in the district this year and in coming times it will add some more fodder crops in the district.Director said that as per the holistic document for the development of agriculture in the UT 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.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.Chief Agriculture Pulwama Mohammad Iqbal Khan District Agriculture Officer (Extension) Shahnawaz Ahmad Shah, District Agriculture Officer Inputs Mohammad Munaf Bhat, District SMS Farooq Ahmad Joo, District SMS Ghulam Nabi Reshi, Sub Divisional Agriculture Officer Kakapora Aga Syed Mehmood, Sub Divisional Agriculture Officer, Tral Shakeel Ahmad Shah among others were present in the meeting.
