Srinagar, July 1: The Governor, N N Vohra, today said that Jammu and Kashmir has vast potential in agriculture, horticulture, floriculture and fruit processing industry to generate large scale economic and employment opportunities. He added that Agricultural Universities, State Government Extension Agencies and the Corporate Sector could beneficially coordinate their efforts and plan to work through the newly elected Panchayats.
The Governor was interacting with a delegation of the PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry which called on him at Raj Bhavan here today. The 6-member delegation was led by the President, PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Salil Bhandari.
The Governor, who is also the Chancellor of both the Agricultural Universities of the State, observed that with the necessary technical know-how being provided by the farm universities to the growers the newly elected Panchayats could become the focal points for generating awareness about the various Central and the State Government schemes which are available for the benefit of the farmers.         
The Governor emphasized the need for optimally benefiting from the inherent potential of all the three regions of the State, adding that the organizations like PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry could help by enabling the setting up of area and potential specific pilot projects for value addition. He observed that this could be best achieved by creating greater awareness among the growers about the latest know-how, making available post-harvesting technology, promoting fruit processing industry to produce jams, jellies, juices and other products, both for value addition and generating employment. He added that grading, packaging and establishing a cold chain could be other areas of focus for the larger benefit of the growers in State. He said that promotion of silk industry, mushroom and strawberry cultivation are other areas which need targeted attention.
Referring to the Ladakh region, the Governor said that much could be done for the apricot growers there by promoting the latest technology for drying, grading and packaging of this local produce to secure higher returns. He said that the Chamber could also contribute for the development of Leh and Kargil districts by organizing vocational training programmes for the local youth in consonance with the requirements of trained manpower in this region.    
The delegation informed the Governor about some of the successful models of their initiatives in other States of the country and said that they are making a profile on Jammu and Kashmir where under steps would be outlined for capacity building in the potential sectors by organizing seminars, providing counseling, distributing pamphlets about the various schemes by adopting farm technology approach on sustained basis. They said that the Chamber has also planned to facilitate placement of the State youth and for this purpose would bring various companies to J&K in September this year.
The delegation comprised Suman Jyoti Khatan, Vice President of the PHD Chambers of Commerce and Industry; Mohan Lal Mathur, Resident Director, Susmita Shekhar, Deputy Secretary General; Vikrant Kuthiala, Chairman, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, J&K and Mushtaq Ahmad Chaya, its Co-Chairman.
The Principal Secretary to the Governor, R. K. Goyal was present on the occasion.

Lastupdate on : Fri, 1 Jul 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
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