Doda, June 06: CSIR – Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine Jammu organized a seed distribution cum skill development programme for the farmers of district Doda as a part of the area expansion vertical under CSIR-Floriculture Mission in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, here on Thursday at community hall Doda.
The event was organized under the patronage of Dr Zabeer Ahmed, Director CSIR IIIM Jammu. During the programme, 160 farmers from Gajoth, Marmath, Malothi, Duga and Pranoo participated wherein they were imparted training and skill for scientific crop production and management of floricultural crops. The participating farmers were also provided with the quality seed material of marigold.
During the technical session of the programme, a presentation on the scientific cultivation of Marigold was delivered by Dr Iqra Farooq Senior Project Associate, CSIR IIIM.
She gave a detailed overview on the various verticals being implemented across the UT of J&K under CSIR Floriculture Mission highlighting their role in bringing about the transformational change in the commercial floriculture sector of the region. The farmers were also provided information on the advanced crop production techniques for optimal utilization of the resources and production of the quality floricultural produce throughout the crop growing.
Complimenting the efforts of the Mission team, J&K Kisan Advisory Board member Hind Bhushan informed that the well planned outreach under the CSIR Floriculture for area expansion under different floricultural crops has positively impacted the income of farmer families and opportunities in gainful livelihood generation through commercial floriculture farming in the district besides successful production of sustainable and quality produce of floricultural crops.
Earlier in his welcome address Nirmal Prakash Sharma, Assistant Soil Chemist, Doda appreciated the efforts of the Mission team for successfully conducting the seed distribution programme and imparting crop specific training to the farmers who had converged from various areas of the district.
He informed that availability of the quality seed material and enhancing the technical skill for crop production and management under the CSIR Floriculture Mission will are addressing the gaps in development of floriculture sector in the region. The participating farmers expressed their gratitude to the Institute for offering guidance and quality planting material, enabling profitable use of their farmland through various Mission verticals. Others present at the event were Dr Dawood Yousuf, Syed Irham, Sandeep Gupta, Sajad Mir. The proceedings of the event ended with the vote of thanks by Er Aafreen Naseer.
