Unabated conversion of agriculture land in Jammu and Kashmir for other purposes is making 60 per cent the state’s population poorer by the day, says an official report.
The report said that the state needs to focus on its weakestcontributor to the economy—agriculture.
“This sector ironically supports more than 60% of employmentand the effects can be easily seen in the disparity ratio between averageincomes of agriculturists and non-agriculturists, which has been increasingsince long,” the report reads.
“This means that a major population (60% people) ofJ&K is becoming poorer. Also, keeping in consideration the scope ofexpansion in manufacturing sector and service sector (primarily with tourismindustry under its kitty) the major bottleneck that can hold us back is theagriculture sector,” the report adds.
The report points to the fact that average size of the farmsis very small and approximately 90% of land holdings are between 2 and 4kanals, which in turn result in low productivity.
Also, the report said, the sector has not adopted moderntechnology and agricultural practices to a larger extent, while decline in planallocations investment and investment credit are aggravating factors.
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?
“There is an urgent need to keep a vigil on agrarian landwhich is getting misused by land mafia across the state. The urbanizationpressures have directly impacted the size of land holdings and area undercultivation,” It adds.
The report recommends a focus on agricultural awareness,efficient irrigation methods, power facilities, marketing, logistics andadequate MSP.
Since most parts in J&K have a single crop in a year,there is a need to promote green housing and other all-weather methods offarming, it adds.
“There is also a need for opening Compressed AtmosphereStores and Cold Chain Facilities for increasing the fresh fruit life keepingthe contribution of horticulture into consideration,” the report said.
The report said that livestock, poultry, fish, which areimported from other states, have the potential to boost the economy.
“Apart from contributing to GSDP and providing employment toyouth, this allied agriculture industry has a potential to make J&Kself-sufficient in terms of food consumables and milk dairy products,” thereport said.
“The sooner we realise the backwardness of our primarysector the faster we increase our chances of emerging as an economically stablestate,” the report states.
While calling for reviving growth that would generate decentjobs while reducing poverty, the report also emphasises shifting from the”consumption state to a production state”.
“There is an urgent need for optimum utilization of savingsespecially government savings and household savings, while increasing corporateand infrastructure investment,” the report said.
“J&K needs macroeconomic stabilization to bring downinflation, the fiscal deficit and the current account deficit. GSDP of J&Kis less than Himachal Pradesh by Rs. 4123 crore despite the fact that area andpopulation of Himachal Pradesh is less than J&K almost by 45% (EconomicSurvey Report, 2016),” the report said
During the past few years of planning between 2004-05 and2011-12, the share of agriculture in GDP has fallen approximately one thirdfrom 28% to 16%, whereas the share of industry has remained almost constant andthe share of services has improved from 43.71% to 57%.
It has been observed that services sector is emerging as animportant growth driver and the manufacturing sector is relatively stagnant whileagricultural productivity has decreased significantly. It is a point of concernthat the combined contribution from primary and secondary sectors is becomingless than the contribution from services sector, which is a very unhealthycondition for sustaining growth in the long run.