Jammu, Jan 05: Vice-Chancellor, SKUAST-Jammu Prof. J.P. Sharma on Thursday that the holistic development in Jammu & Kashmir can be brought only through diversification of agriculture as the per capita land holding in the Union Territory is less than the national average.
Speaking as a chief guest at a two-day workshop on Geographical Indications which concluded here at SKUAST-Jammu, Prof. J.P Sharma called for the promotion of local products of J&K like Kala Zeera, Rajmash, honey, mushroom and saffron. Vice-Chancellor, SKUAST-Kashmir Prof. N.A. Ganai and GI expert Padamshree Dr. Rajanikant were the guests of honor on the occasion.
VC SKUAST-Jammu emphasized on the preparation of a comprehensive list of potential GI products of the North-Western Himalayan region. He advocated the launch of a sensitization program for farmers through KVKs and for students through NAHEP on registration of GIs. He also urged for sharing the concept of GIs in Farmer’s Producers Organizations.
Padamshree Dr. Rajanikant said that GI is the legal local guarantee and is the golden sparrow of India by its commodities such as handloom, handicrafts, spices, millets, etc. He appreciated different types of Dogra cuisine and stressed upon its conservation and dissemination. He urged for the preservation of ethnic community products. He explained the complete process of registration of GIs and answered the queries of the participants.
The second day of the workshop begins with the technical session third being chaired by Prof. J.P. Sharma and co-chaired by Dr. Lakshmi Kant, Director, ICAR-VPKAS, Almora, Uttarakhand.
During the session, Vice-Chancellor, SKUAST-Kashmir delivered a presentation on the topic ‘IPRs in Agriculture- Way to prosperity’. He said that the different stakeholders must recognize and realize the mantra of the IPR regime so as to ultimately bring farmers away from subsistence farming with the transfer of IPR-enabled technologies through various commercial, cooperative, and public routes. He gave the example of the GI tag given to Kashmiri saffron (A prized GI commodity of Kashmir) with the proof of origin and its uniqueness. He discussed other GI products viz., Kashmir Pashmina, Sozni Art, Kani Shawl, walnut wood products, etc. He highlighted the future Green Revolution of the state with the aim to make J&K a bio-economic state with the national vision of Atam Nirbhar Bharat, saying a strong resilient approach is required for inclusive growth of India to join the league of developed countries. He also emphasized on the five pillars of self-reliant India-Economy, namely Infrastructure, System, Demography and Demand as a strategy for Atam Nirbhar Abhiyan.
Dr. Sudershan Kumar, Former DG, DRDO spoke on the topic ‘Role of technology for sustainable development of North Western Himalayas’. He highlighted the richness of the Northern Western Himalayas in terms of the Flora and Fauna of the region and its importance for GI tagging. He emphasized how DIHAR’s (DRDO Lab) technologies have changed the socio-economic condition of villages of Ladakh by providing low-cost sustainable technologies viz., Trench GreenHouse, Double Walled Polyench Green House and Fibre Reinforced Green House.Further, he said that designing and developing such Green Houses has resulted in round-the-year vegetable cultivation.
Dr. Mahesh Gupta, Principal Scientist, CSIR IHBT delivered presentations on ‘GI and IPR vision of CSIR – IHBT Technologies’. He highlighted various patents and GI tags granted to Himachal Pradesh and the contribution of CSIR, and IHBT for the same. He gave examples of the revival of Himachali Dham and Kangra tea. He further discussed how tea catechins can be used as nutraceuticals and this technology has been transferred to industries. He further said that CSIR-IHBT is working towards reducing post-harvest losses in fruits and vegetables using CRISPY fruits and vegetables.
During the workshop, an MoU was also signed between SKUAST-Jammu and ICAR- Vivekananda Parvatiya Krishi Anusandhan Sansthan, Almora, Uttarakhand to promote ICAR-VPKAS’s varieties in J&K.
Earlier, Dr. R.K. Salgotra, Director, Institute of Bio-Technology and organizing secretary of the workshop gave a welcome address. Choudhary Mohammad Iqbal, Director Agriculture Kashmir and K. K. Sharma, Director Agriculture Jammu also attended the workshop. Statutory officers, faculty members, participants and media persons were present during the valedictory function. A vote of thanks was presented by Dr. Manmohan Sharma while the proceedings were conducted by Dr. Sachin Gupta.
