'Rs 1706 cr disbursed among farmers under PM-Kisan scheme in J&K'

As per the official statement, till recent months, Direct financial assistance has been provided to 11.7 lakh farmers through the Kissan Credit Card and incentives worth Rs. 1,706 crore has been disbursed to more than a million beneficiaries under the PM-KISAN scheme.

Agriculture is a key and essential part of human civilization and forms the core societal development of any region.

The Jammu and Kashmir economy is predominantly agriculture dependent and nearly 70 percent of the population is directly or indirectly engaged in agricultural and allied activities.

The J&K government works on a vision on a daily basis to look beyond subsistence agriculture by leveraging special agro-climatic conditions of the Union Territory for securing high returns to the farmers from transformed and modern sustainable and inclusive agriculture interventions.

Also with the introduction of innovative and globally validated farm technologies, raising of the requisite state of the art infrastructure and creation of an enabling ecosystem, the agriculture sector is being developed on modern lines across the length and breadth of J&K.

The mission of the J&K Administration is to secure a complete transformation in the lives and outlook of the farmers of the UT from subsistence to modern, vibrant, and high return agriculture by the end of year 2023.

The objective of the government is also to dispel the image of agriculture as a means of sustenance and to promote in a big way agripreneurship as a means of high return and respectable employment.

They are also making maximum effort for aggregating Farmers Interest Groups (FIGs) particularly youth and women and Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) in product specific clusters to meet the objectives of Atma Nirbhar Bharat and making the most of funding and opportunities available under various CSS for securing the welfare of farmers of the Union Territory.

In recent years, the mechanization of the farming sector is an important step to transform the agriculture sector which will help farmers to produce more.

As a part of agricultural mechanization support to the farmers for broader economic transformation, the Lieutenant Governor of J&K handed over sanction letters for 100 tractors to the farmers and 1035 threshers for panchayats.

The government is also setting up Custom Hiring centres and Farm Machinery Banks in different parts of the union territory. As many as 151 custom hiring centres and 122 farm machinery banks have been started so far.

Agriculture sector and Horticulture sector are key drivers of J&Ks economic growth and efficient use of seed technologies, high-density plantation, nutrient management and widespread adoption of integrated dairy farming schemes to make Jammu-Kashmir agriculture powerhouse.

Facilities have been provided like cold-storage, market linkages and food processing units, besides developing a strong framework for farmer industry connect and generating employment opportunities for rural youth to bridge the rural-urban divide.

Also, 1.29 lakh soil samples being tested during the current year, 56,426 soil health cards (SHCs) have been distributed besides more than 1 lakh quintals of quality seed has also been distributed among farmers to amplify the production and make them economically sustainable.

The government has also launched several other remarkable initiatives to develop the agricultural sector of J&K