Srinagar, May 10: Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Agriculture Production Department, Atal Dulloo on Wednesday reviewed the implementation of certain schemes being executed under the ambitious Holistic Agriculture Development Plan (HADP) during a meeting held with concerned officers and other stakeholders. The meeting was attended by Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-K; Directors of Sericulture; Agriculture and Horticulture Jammu and Kashmir besides other concerned officers.
The ACS impressed upon the officers to implement the holistic plan in its entirety keeping its aims and objectives in mind. He asked them to do all the preliminary works beforehand regarding issuing of tenders, procurement and management of human resources.
Dulloo asked them to maintain all standards of transparency by framing thorough specifications of tender documents for timely procurement and utilization of resources. He stressed accepting applications for all the components exclusively through online mode on its portal from the public. He made out that the same has been launched with the aim of ensuring transparency, accountability and fairness.
The ACS exhorted the officers to ensure that all projects being executed under HADP are completed within the set timelines. He was apprised that all the preliminary preparations and consultations with the stakeholders are apace and going to be implemented in letter and spirit within its set timeframe.
The sub-projects taken up for discussion during the meeting included the Development of Seed & Seed Multiplication chain, Promotion of Niche Crops, Promotion of Vegetable/Exotic Vegetables under open and protected cultivation, Strengthening of Agriculture Marketing in UT, Medicinal & Aromatic Plants, Beekeeping, Promotion of Sericulture, Promotion of Millets and Nutri-cereals, Farm Mechanization Automation besides Promotion of year-round Mushroom Cultivation.
Some of the works which were also deliberated upon during the meeting included 100% off-take of seeds, framing of the strategy document for the development of breeder and foundation seeds, the establishment of 500 CSPs/SPOs, engagement of 12000 primary seed producers, Promotion and expansion of area under crops like Saffron, Kala Zeera, Chilli, Mushkbudj, Red Rice, etc.
Similarly, the meeting discussed the creation of new mandies, establishment of CA stores, the creation of Agriculture Branding Centres, Market Intelligence Cell, and area expansion under Medicinal & Aromatic Plants besides the establishment of the Centre of Excellence on Herbal technology and beekeeping.
Moreover, the interventions would result in creating employment opportunities for over 2.8 lakh youth and establishing around 19,000 enterprises. In the next five years, the UT shall have a motivated workforce with agri-entrepreneurial skills in a commercially viable and ecologically sustainable agri-ecosystem, as is envisaged with the completion of this holistic development plan, it was said in the meeting.
