Sanasar, June 21: Minister for Agriculture Ghulam Hassan Mir said that J&K has a huge potential for becoming a hub for production of disease free and quality Potato Seed Tubers and its crop.
 The Minister, according to an official statement, was speaking on the inauguration of 2-day seminar on “Potato Development in Jammu” at  Sanasar- Patnitop this morning.
  Reiterating that production of Potato Seed Tubers has a great potential of employability,   Mir asked all the stake holders to tap the unexplored potential of high altitude land areas by introducing modern agriculture technology to make the state self sufficient in potato seed tubers and its crop production. He said that the state has maximum land area which comes under 5000- 8000 ft altitude and said that this land is most beneficial for production of potato seed tubers having favourable climate
 Referring the states potential in yielding high quality seed tubers, the Minister emphasized upon the Directors of Agriculture, Kashmir and Jammu for optimum utilization of their respective agriculture farms particularly the hill station farms in production disease free and quality seed tubers. He said that this year maximum funds would be made available for the development of Agriculture farms across the state. He said that thrust should also be made for setting up of Seed Villages by providing all modern technical inputs to the farmer’s as it is the viable economic activity for the rural populace.
    Mir said that for the improvement bumper yield and high quality of crop, its scientific production need to be disseminated to the farmers along with supply of disease free seed tubers .He said that there is a dire need to expansion the area for its production across the state besides to impart the necessary training to the field staff and farmers for producing disease free seed tubers.
 Saying that J&K as whole is a tourist state,   Mir called for taking the initiatives of the processing of high quality potato for making chips, which would help in riving the rural economy as the raw material is already available here.
 Speaking on the occasion,   Javid Ahmad Dar said that Agriculture Department would play a pivotal role in introducing improved crop production technology among the farmers. He said that “we should set the target for Commercial Potato Cultivation and Potato Seed production.” He said that “we should take a lead from our neighbouring states by way of introducing latest trends in commercialization”, as state has tremendous scope for production of Potato seed tubers.
 He said that the farmers of Punjab have revolutionized the sector by adopting commercialization. He assured the farmers that Government would provide every support to the farming community to take the production of potato crop in new heights.
   Dar said that now the Potato crop is covered under National Agriculture Insurance Scheme with nominal premium rate which will safeguard the losses due to Natural Calamities. He stressed for establishing the cooperative societies of potato seed growers on the pattern of Himachal Pradesh for the promotion and marketing of Potato Seed tubers.
 MLA Ramban,   Ashok Kumar, appreciated the efforts of the government taken for the farming community and demanded that the training programmes be organized on tissue culture for the production potato seed.
 Principal Secretary, Agriculture laid stress on diversification and value addition in potato crop. He asks the farmers to take the benefit of their land holdings and cultivate it as it is imperative for revival of economy.  He stressed for introducing cash crop in their respective areas. He highlighted various initiatives of the government for the benefit of farmers which includes exemption of toll tax on agriculture goods, holding of pre-budget discussion with farmers, distribution of high quality Hybrid seed of vegetables and maize. He also stressed for the promotion of organic farming in public private partnership mode and asked for identification of the area.
  Director Agriculture, Jammu,   Ajay Khajuria in his welcome address projected the latest initiatives of the department to boost the potato production and diversification. He said that the department was making efforts in becoming self-sufficient in the productivity of quality of potato seed. He said it could be achieved through gearing up the departmental seed multiplication farm at Sanasar, Gool, Katoli Mian and Kandi in Jammu province.
 Minister Of state For Agriculture,   Javid Ahmad Dar MLA Ramban   Ashok Kumar and Principal secretary Agriculture,   Muhammad Iqbal Khandey, Chief Scientist from Jalandhar   R. K. Arora, Director Research SUKAST, Dr. A. R. Trag also spoke on the occasion.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 21 Jun 2010 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 21 Jun 2010 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 22 Jun 2010 00:00:00 IST