Jammu,
Governor NN Vohra, Chancellor of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology-Jammu, inaugurated a two-day ‘Kisan Mela’ at the Chatha campus of the university today.

Gulam Nabi Lone Hanjura, Minister for Agriculture Production and Daljit Singh Chib, Vice-Chairman, J&K State Advisory Board for Development of Kisans, were also present. The mela has been organised on the theme of ‘Technology-Driven Agriculture for Doubling Farmers’ Income’.

The Governor complimented the Vice Chancellor of the university, Pradeep K Sharma, and his colleagues for the successful completion of 18 years of the university’s functioning. He said in the past four years, the university had achieved commendable progress in infrastructure development and enhancement in academic programmes.

He emphasised the high importance of organising such melas at block and district levels so that a much larger number of farmers could be made aware of the new technologies and techniques for increasing efficiency and productivity of agricultural operations.

The Governor suggested that an annual calendar for organising such melas should be evolved and these should become an important feature in all the districts and block-level extension activities.

Stressing the vital importance of implementing meaningful outreach programmes, the Governor called upon the farm universities and the state government’s Agriculture Department and banks to work very closely together to lay the foundation of the second green revolution.

He noted that farmers needed hand holding by our scientists and agriculture-related departments who should develop support systems starting from the supply of quality seeds to the marketing of the agricultural produce at fair prices.

The Governor noted that the state’s import bill for meat, poultry and eggs is approximately Rs 2,000 crore per annum and both the university and the Agriculture Department needed to prepare a roadmap for making the state a net exporter of these products.

He appreciated the work done by the university in making technological breakthroughs for enhancing the on-farm income of small-scale farm households in the state and observed that new models of agriculture being developed by the university should be adopted by farmers to multiply their incomes.

Earlier, the Governor visited the livestock show which was jointly set up by the livestock owners and the university. He also visited the exhibitions and stalls set up at the mela by agricultural universities from neighbouring states, national institutes, agriculture and allied development departments of the state, banks, seed and plant protection industry, and different departments and research centres of the university. He interacted with farmers and scientists and appreciated the various initiatives taken by the university.

He also visited the technology park of the university which has been developed to acquaint the persons of the line departments and the farmers about the latest technological developments with regard to crop improvement, productivity enhancement, natural resource and plant protection, etc.

The Governor released the university’s ‘Balance Sheet 2013-14’and a ‘Farmer-Friendly Poultry App’, which is a mobile application designed to help the farmers to assess the production potential and cost benefit ratio, amount of feed required, balance sheet of farmer’s expenditure and profit from the flocks, etc. Through this app, a farmer can directly communicate with KVK experts.