Jammu, Nov 08: Under the entrepreneurship and skill development programme of the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, the Government of India, SKUAST-K has been entrusted with the skill development of youth and promotion of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in J&K and Ladakh UTs.
For the year 2023-24, the agricultural university has been awarded more than 550 skill trainings to be conducted across the regions of J&K and Ladakh. In this endeavour, SKUAST-K’s Directorate of Planning & Monitoring organised seven entrepreneurship awareness camps on ‘Branding and Marketing of Honey’ in Jammu, Samba, Kathua and Udhampur districts for the entrepreneurs and rural youth, the university said in a press release.
Four programmes were conducted at Panchayat Level in Gagian in District Jammu, Panchayat Roun and Darsoo in District Udhampur, Panchayat-Utterbehni in District-Samba, whereas one programme was conducted at Village Rattian in Jammu district in collaboration with Department of Agriculture and Family Welfare, Jammu. Two programmes were conducted in two Govt Degree colleges of District Kathua (Hiranagar and Marheen).
All the Programmes were conducted with the overall supervision of Prof Haroon R. Naik, Nodal Officer (MSME)/Director Research, SKUAST-Kashmir. During the programme, Dr Sushil Kumar, Associate Professor, SKUAST-K and Course Coordinator of the programs highlighted the importance of branding and marketing of honey and the strategies involved like brand, identification, packaging design, targeted marketing, quality assurance, promotion and royalty programmes, regional and national event, etc. He said the market for honey and honey-based products in India is still at a nascent stage and offers a huge potential for growth.
Dr Yogesh Kumar, STA, SKUAST-Kashmir also highlighted the various government schemes for the promotion and marketing of honey and their products. The main aim of these programmes was to create awareness among rural youths and farmers regarding the branding and marketing of honey and to generate employment opportunities.
