New Delhi, Sep 15: Minister for Horticulture and Floriculture Sham Lal Sharma was conferred on ‘Agriculture Leadership Award 2011’ on Wednesday here.
 The minister got the award for “outstanding performance” in the horticulture sector in Jammu and Kashmir from the Union Minister for Law, and Minorities Affairs Salman Khursheed in presence of  Union MoS for Agriculture Harish Rawat and veteran leader Balram Jakhar at an impressive function held in the national capital, an official statement said.
 The Jammu and Kashmir has been selected for this prestigious award by a high-level committee headed by Member Parliament, Prof Swaminathan. It is notable that last year the state was awarded for the best primary health services.
 Speaking on the occasion, Sham said that though J&K has been producing fruits at commercial scale since long but in the recent past the state has been able to add new dimensions to the horticulture sector.
 “One of the major contributing factors for such changes has been due to effective implementation of some centrally sponsored schemes like Horticulture Mission and RKVY and by taking corrective measures in the overall functioning of the department.
 “A strong political will of our government to boost horticulture sector has also played a catalytic role in helping us to march towards better horticulture achievements,” said the minister.
 He noted that horticulture industry in J&K is one of the key sectors for the employment generation and over the years more educated youths have been showing keen interest to adopt horticulture activities for their livelihood.
 He gave credit to all the officers, officials of the department for getting this honour.
 He called for maintaining the position in future too. He also conveyed his thanks to the Members of the committee on behalf of Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, his Cabinet colleagues and all the officials of the department for the honour.
 A galaxy of audience including bureaucrats, intellectuals, political leaders were present on the occasion.

Lastupdate on : Thu, 15 Sep 2011 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Thu, 15 Sep 2011 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Fri, 16 Sep 2011 00:00:00 IST