After August 5, 2019, after the abrogation of Article 370, the Centre had announced scrapping of J&K’s special status and divided it into two Union Territories, the government has taken numerous initiatives to help the farmers and uplift their standard of living. A first-of-its-kind, a massive farmer’s orientation exercise is being undertaken by Agriculture Production Department called as ‘Kisan Sampark Abhiyan’ in Jammu and Kashmir with an ambitious target of reaching out to farmers in each and every Panchayat of the union territory in the next 4 months. This ambitious farmer’s outreach program has been planned under the recently launched Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP). Kisan Sampark Abhiyan is a program aimed at overall welfare of farmers across the Union Territory. The programme will be launched across 3565 panchayats in J&K and would last for four months. It commenced on 24th April 2023 and will conclude on 31st August 2023. The orientation programme, which is being organised simultaneously across all districts of the union territory, has been designed to be conducted on the first three days of every week. An exhaustive district-specific calendar has been issued by the government in this regard. The main aim of the programme is to make the farmers aware about the benefits of the centrally sponsored schemes which they can avail for their welfare and development. The government approved 29 projects after these were recommended by the Union Territory Level Apex Committee for holistic development of agriculture and allied sectors in Jammu and Kashmir. Last year, the government restructured the Agriculture Production Department with an aim to double the income of farmers, orchardists and people dependent on animal, sheep husbandry and fisheries for their livelihood. The restructuring of the key department has brought all the welfare schemes for the farmers under one roof. The farmers no longer have to run from one office to another to get the loans and subsidies. The single window system has made things easier for them. The Resource persons for the orientations would be the officers and officials drawn from Agriculture, Animal/Sheep Husbandry, Horticulture, Sericulture and Fisheries Departments, who have been trained beforehand during the 641 training sessions which were held across all districts during the months of January to April. An innovative tool for describing the different schemes and programmes using short films has been put in place. A total of 49 videos of methods under HADP and other Centrally Sponsored Schemes will be shown to the farmers across the venues in Jammu and Kashmir. Besides other schemes the government has also approved an ambitious Rs 30.40-crore project of “Sensor-based Smart Agriculture” envisaging integration of agriculture with technology driven by artificial insemination and Internet of things (IoT) for automation of practices, enhanced resource use efficiency and profitability. The project aims at establishing hi-tech polyhouses for cultivation of cash crops around the year with the application of IoT and automation for monitoring microclimatic parameters of plants. The Agriculture Department has been focusing on procuring good quality seeds and developing green houses. These are major strides towards turning agriculture into an all-weather industry. Kisan Sampark Abhiyan received an overwhelming response from farmers in Jammu and Kashmir. More than 24,000 farmers attended the orientation programme under Kisan Sampark Abhiyan during the first three-day session held across 264 venues of the union territory. The successful farmers who clear the online courses shall be provided certificates from Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu. In the training session, Audio-visual aids played a vital role in describing the schemes had a lasting and much more engaging, engrossing effect on the farmers. Video lectures under the Learning Management System (LMS) are available in Kashmiri, Urdu, Dogri and Hindi and Textual material is also available in Hindi, Urdu and English. Besides, specialised modules on business development and financial management have also been included to ensure that the farmers are not merely trained but become skilful entrepreneurs. A question-answer session after each screening session of videos is held to clear the doubts of farmers. The farmers are also provided with pamphlets on all the schemes in three languages (Hindi, Urdu and English) which also contained information about the contact details of all the departments under the agriculture production department of the Jammu And Kashmir. The farmers are also informed about the mode of application under these schemes using the Kisan Sathi – the IT Dashboard of the schemes developed by the agricultural department. A simple scan of the QR codes on the pamphlets will take the farmer to the Kisan Sathi Portal where he can register easily and there is no need for visiting any office for applying under any of the schemes. The farmers were also apprised of Daksh Kisan – a Learning Management System (LMS) for skill development of the farmers. A first of its kind in the country, Daksh Kisan, has been developed by the Agriculture Production Department, where 118 skilling courses as per the agro-climatic zones of Jammu and Kashmir are available for free to the farmers. A simple scan of the QR code at the back of the pamphlet takes the farmer to the Daksh Kisan Portal where he can register for free and undertake any skilling course of their liking. The Kisan Sampark Abhiyan is yet another step towards helping the farmers to stand on their own feet. Farmers are becoming a new identity of Jammu and Kashmir and are playing an important role in contributing towards UT’s economy. They are being trained to become self-reliant. During the past three years many youngsters have turned agri-entrepreneurs and have created new employment avenues. Successful implementation of this project will help in development of a complete ecosystem from production to distribution, stressing that this would help in achieving the government’s goal of creating a self-reliant India.
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