Budgam, Nov 09: Building entrepreneurial skills among youth, KVK Budgam, SKUAST-K, concludes two, weeklong, E-MDP programmes sponsored by Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises on Role of ICT in Agriculture and Allied Sciences and Processing of Fruits and Vegetables for students of Govt. Degree College Khansahib today. Commencing with a joint inaugural, the trainings aimed at orienting the youth towards entrepreneurship development through skill building lectures, demonstrations and exposure visits in order to make for a comprehensive learning on the subjects. The training on Role of ICT in Agriculture and Allied Sciences was designed and executed to deliberate on Technological advancements in agriculture particularly through use of e-applications like Plantix, Meghdoot, Damini, Mausam among others like DSSAT and Soil Testing Device – Bhu Parikshak. An exposure visit to KVK Ganderbal was also facilitated for Live Drone Demonstration to showcase its use in agricultural farms for efficiency and precision.
Also, against the backdrop of District Budgam being a major vegetable producing belt, the E- MDP on Processing and Value addition was devised for perspective building among youth towards the opportunities in the processing sector. Currently, the processing of fruits and vegetables is 1% and has immense potential for translating this opportunity for commercial gains. During the training, lectures were delivered on horticultural scenarios in Budgam, post-harvest losses in fruits and vegetables, value addition of fruits and vegetables etc. Demonstrations were conducted on Herbal Masala Tikki and Chocolate Walnuts. An exposure visit to Sultan Foods – a processing centre at Haran Budgam was also facilitated for students to witness a first-hand experience of fruit and vegetable processing (jam and puree) at a Micro-Entreprise.
