JAMMU: The Department of Horticulture Jammu organized one day workshop on “Capacity Building of Farmers & Extension Workers” at Mega Fruit Plant Nursery, Chakroi under the chairmanship of Director Horticulture Jammu C. L Sharma.
The Director Horticulture Jammu felicitated Deepak Singha, Founder President, Stone Fruit Association, Himachal Pradesh and acquainted him about the various activities being carried out at MFPN Chakroi. Singha hailed such a big public sector nursery with latest technologies & infrastructure established in northern India.
Addressing the large gathering of farmers, including women, C. L Sharma elaborated in detail the Central and UT schemes of the department especially Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) launched to enhance the farmers' income. He urged the farming community to adopt modern and scientific agricultural techniques, which would significantly enhance production of horticulture and allied sectors. He advised the farmers to frequently interact with the field functionaries of the department regarding the new technologies and to seek solutions for the problems being faced by them in the fields.
The event saw a large number of participants, with a notable presence of unemployed youth, from Jammu, Samba & Kathua district underscoring the community's keen interest in agricultural development. Speaking on the occasion, Deepak Singha, an expert in Stone Fruit from Himachal Pradesh laid stress on area expansion with good planting material free from any pest diseases. He was of the opinion that this area has good climatic conditions, suitable for cultivation of Stone fruits.
Dr. Rakesh Sharma, Prof. from SKUAST-J also delivered a lecture to the gathering on the occasion. Chief Horticulture Officer Jammu Rakesh Kotwal appealed the farmers to come forward, associate with the horticulture department and avail the benefits on different components viz: Bore Well, water harvesting tanks, Drip irrigation, Custom Hiring Centres, vermicompost units, protected cultivation, tools & implements etc. under various schemes for upliftment of their socio- economic status.
Later, fruit plants of different crops viz: Guava, Citrus, Bael, Aonlawere also distributed among the farmers who participated in the programme. Among others, Vijay Rana, I/c MFPN, Pawan Thakur, DTO, Ajay Gupta, HIPO Jammu, Sandeep Gupta, DLSMS, Arvind Verma, DLSMS, Puvinder Gupta, HDO, Pardeep Dingra, HDO and other officers/officials were also present in the programme.
