Transforming Jammu & Kashmir into a national and global leader in high-value horticulture by 2047 as part of India’s Viksit Bharat mission
AAMIR AHMAD TEELI
NITI Aayog, India’s top policy body, has laid out a sweeping 20-year roadmap to transform Jammu & Kashmir into a national and global leader in high-value horticulture by 2047 as part of India’s Viksit Bharat mission. The plan will be executed in three stages: laying the foundations by building nurseries, cold storage, and training by 2030, scaling across all districts by 2035, and achieving global integration and self-reliance by 2047. The ambition is undeniable, but in the Kashmiri farmers’ perspective, the real test will not be in the pages of a policy document, but rather in the fields where it needs to be implemented with zeal and zest.
For generations, the farmers of Kashmir have grown some of the finest apples, walnuts, and saffron in the world, yet a large share of the money those crops earn has always gone to middlemen, traders, and cold storage owners, not to the farmers themselves. A sweeping new plan from New Delhi aims to change that.
NITI Aayog, the Government of India’s main policy and planning body, has released a detailed roadmap called “Operation Golden Greens”, a long-term mission to develop horticulture (fruit, vegetable, flower, and spice farming) across Jammu & Kashmir from now all the way through 2047. The plan covers everything from providing better seeds and irrigation to building cold storage facilities, to helping farmers sell directly in big markets and even export abroad.
Training, Tools, and Technology at the Doorstep
One of the biggest complaints from farmers in J&K has always been that they do not get timely advice on how to handle pests, diseases, or market prices. The new plan directly addresses this. The government proposes to send more than 50 mobile advisory vans across all districts, so that farmers do not have to travel to find expert help. It will come to them. Additionally, at least 100 training programs will be undertaken every year to teach farmers modern methods of growing, managing nurseries, handling produce after harvest, and protecting crops from insects and disease.
The plan aims to train at least 1,000 agri-entrepreneurs and help launch 100 horticulture startups across J&K. Special attention will be given to women and youth, as the roadmap requires that at least 40% of participants in training and business programs be women or young people. The target is to support over 100 women and youth-led enterprises every year in horticulture-related work.
No More Fake or Poor-Quality Saplings
Farmers have long suffered losses because of poor-quality or fake planting material, saplings and cuttings that do not grow well, carry disease, or simply do not produce the variety they were sold as. The plan proposes to fix this by setting up modern, government-regulated nurseries across every district, complete with tissue culture labs (a scientifically advanced method of growing disease-free plants) and strict quality checks. Laws around nurseries will also be updated to make sellers more accountable, so that farmers know exactly what they are buying and can trace it back if something goes wrong.
Farmers Will No Longer Be Forced to Sell at a Loss
Every year, thousands of tons of apples, cherries, and vegetables rot in J&K because there is not enough cold storage near the farms. Farmers, desperate to avoid total losses, end up selling at throwaway prices to whoever is nearby. The plan proposes building cold storage and packhouses at the block and district level, so that produce can be safely stored close to where it is grown.
Five or more large, advanced cold chain hubs will be set up in key areas, connected directly to processing units and export points. These will use Controlled Atmosphere (CA) technology, which keeps fruits like apples fresh for months without chemicals, allowing farmers to wait for better prices before selling. This includes establishing:
- 5+ Cold chain hubs in key clusters.
- 100+ Small processing units across clusters.
- 2 Export facilitation centres (Jammu & Kashmir).
- 1,000+ Farmers trained on export standards annually.
Online Markets, GI Tags, and Selling to the World
The plan intends that J&K’s farmers should sell their produce either on their own or through Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs, which are groups of farmers working together) directly on online platforms like ONDC (the government’s open network for digital commerce), cutting out the unnecessary middleman system, which has been the biggest hurdle to the profitability of ordinary farmers.
At the same time, Geographic Indication (GI) tags, which act as a certification that a product genuinely comes from a specific place and carries its traditional quality, will be promoted for key products like Kashmir apple, Kashmiri saffron, and Kashmiri walnut. These tags help command premium prices both inside India and in foreign markets. Further, two export facilitation centres will be established, one each in Jammu and Kashmir. These centres will help farmers and cooperatives deal with the paperwork, quality testing, and logistics needed to ship produce abroad.
Easier Credit, Insurance, and a Dedicated Fund
Access to affordable loans has always been a challenge for small farmers in J&K. The plan proposes to expand Kisan Credit Card (KCC) coverage so more smallholders can get credit easily, and to use a ₹1,000 crore Credit Guarantee Fund from NABARD (India’s rural banking body) to provide loans without needing land or property as security.
A dedicated Horticulture Development Fund will also be created to support farmers who want to plant orchards at higher density or set up post-harvest and processing units. Crop insurance will be expanded, with a target of enrolling 60% of farmers, with extra premium support for the most marginal ones.
Farming That Protects Kashmir’s Land and Water
The plan also puts a strong emphasis on protecting J&K’s environment. It aims to achieve a 50% reduction in pesticide use over the long term, expansion of organic and natural farming, and covering at least 50% of horticulture land with micro-irrigation systems (drip and sprinkler irrigation) to save water.
Keeping in view that climate change is a real threat to Kashmir’s orchards, unpredictable snowfall, hailstorms, uneven rainfall, and shifting seasons are already affecting apple and saffron crops. The plan proposes dedicated research into climate-resilient crop varieties and farming methods suited to local conditions, so that J&K’s horticulture can survive and thrive as the climate shifts.
This article is based on the horticulture roadmap published by NITI Aayog’s Agriculture Technology Division, authored by Dr Neelam Patel, Dr Babita Singh and Dr Namrata Thapa.
(The Author is an Assistant Professor at APPEX Institute of Management, Chandigarh University, Punjab. Feedback: imamireconomics@gmail.com)