Srinagar, Dec 10: Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir innovator has been awarded a startup grant of Rs 3 lakh from IIT Ropar.
Dr Rafiya Mushtaq’s startup, Techno Orchard, has been awarded a cash grant through the iHub AWaDH Samridhi 2.0 funding program at IIT Ropar. She has developed a Semi-autonomous sensor-based pruner for apple plantations with high cutting and time efficiency. Her selection for the grant was made after participating in a startup competition.
Rafiya, who has been awarded PhD in fruit sciences was felicitated at SAMRIDHI 2.0, a startup accelerator program with a Rs 5 Crore fund designed to make a substantial impact on the deep-tech startup ecosystem across the country at AWaDH, a DST ICPS Technology Innovation Hub, IIT Ropar.
Director of IIT Ropar, Prof Rajeev Ahuja, and Dean, IIT Ropar, Dr Pushpendra P Singh, praised the innovative sensor-based pruner for apple plantation displayed by Techno Orchard and committed to providing funding to Techno Orchard for fueling its growth.
Rafiya is an incubatee at the SKUAST-K Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (SKIIE) Centre. Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-K, Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai, congratulated Rafiya on the significant achievement.
HADP training on recycling farm waste for organic farming concludes
Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir concludes a weeklong training program on recycling farm waste for augmenting organic farming at Rangreth here.
The training titled ‘Recycling of Farm Wastes for Augmenting Organic Farming under Temperate Condition’s was organised by SKUAST-K’s Dryland Agricultural Research Station (DARS) under the sponsorship of ‘Alternate System of Agriculture for Sustainability Project of Holistic Agriculture Development Program (HADP).
Officers of Line Department of Agriculture from the twin districts of Srinagar and Budgam participated in the training program., Director, Research, SKUAST-K, Prof Haroon Rashid Naik, who was the chief guest of the occasion, laid stress on organic waste recycling and expressed the need to make organic more profitable and market-driven.
Course Coordinator of the training program, Dr Fayaz A Bahar presented the overview of the training. Speakers from different Faculties of the University delivered their lectures on different aspects of the training. National resource persons from outside the UT were also invited to deliver lectures. A series of lectures with hands-on sessions were organized and demonstrated to the participants for upscaling their knowledge and technical knowhow.
Prof. Zahoor A Dar, Associate Director, Research, highlighted the efforts of DARS in popularizing technologies for Dryland Agriculture. Dr. Parmeet Singh PI of the HADP project (16) highlighted the importance of the project in light of the present circumstances and its future prospects.
