Kulgam, Jun 09:Dr Nazir Ahmad Ganai, Vice Chancellor (VC) of SKUAST-Kashmir, said that custom hiring centres will be established in every Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) accross the Kashmir. These centers aim to provide farmers with access to modern technology for their agricultural work.
The VC said that SKUAST-Kashmir has branches in Kulgam and Anantnag, A Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) meeting was held on Saturday at KVK Kulgam for both the KVKs, where they reviewed the work done of the previous year and developed an action plan for the upcoming year.
“To review the action plan, all the district officers, officials, and progressive farmers were taken into account to understand the district’s issues and problems in agriculture and allied sectors. We aim to address these through our annual action plan,” he said.
He said that the SAC meeting also focused on ways to introduce modern technology to farmers, which is role of the KVKs. “We have established a modern custom hiring system at this KVK centre, and our aim is to set up similar centres in all 10 KVKs of Kashmir. These centres will allow farmers from neighbouring areas to use agricultural machinery,” he added.
VC expressed concern that youth in Jammu & Kashmir are moving away from agriculture, viewing it as labor-intensive. The introduction of machinery aims to make agriculture more attractive and increase efficiency, productivity, and profitability.
“Under the government’s Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP), we plan to establish custom hiring centres at the district levels he said.
He further said that the SAC also seeks to understand the issues faced by progressive and other farmers in the district, incorporating their feedback into the action plan. The development department officers will then educate farmers throughout the year based on this plan.
During the SAC meeting, Dr. Manzoor A. Ganai, Sr. Scientist and Head of KVK Kulgam, and Dr. Ishtiyaq A. Khan, Head of KVK Anantnag, presented the work accomplished over the past year and outlined their action plan for 2024-25.
The VC was accompanied by Director Extension, Professor Dil Mohammad Makhdoomi, who co-chaired the programme.
