Huge farmers participation in KSA in 525 panchayats in J&K

Jammu, May 4 (PTI) In an overwhelming response, as many as 57,000 farmers participated in the orientation programme under the Kisan Sampark Abhiyan in 525 panchayats in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.

The Agriculture Production Department of J&K is currently engaged in an extensive farmer orientation exercise under the holistic agriculture development programme (HADP).

“During the two rounds of the programme, which began from 24th April, 57,000 farmers participated in the orientation programme under the Kisan Sampark Abhiyan so far,” Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), APD, Atal Dulloo told reporters here.

He said that the second round, held on May 1-3 saw massive participation of farmers.

“The programme has covered a total of 525 panchayats in two rounds conducted till 3rd May. An overwhelming response has been received from the farming community in all of the districts across the UT,” Dulloo said.

Under the KSA, ambitious goals have been set for reaching out to every farmer in every panchayat of the Union Territory within the next four months, he said.

The exercise started on April 24 and will last until August 31 and has been planned under HADP, a turnaround programme, which has been approved in the agriculture sector recently.

“All of the districts are holding the Kisan Sampark Abhiyan -orientation programme at the same time. The first three days of the week are designated for the programme’s operation,” the ACS said.

The government has released a thorough calendar that is specific to each district.

Officials from the agriculture, animal and sheep husbandry, horticulture, sericulture and fisheries departments who were trained in advance during the 641 training sessions that were held throughout all districts from January to April are acting as the resource persons for the farmer’s orientations.

A creative method has been implemented to use short films and videos to describe the various initiatives and projects.

“The farmers will be shown a total of 49 short films and videos about HADP and other centrally supported programmes at various locations in J&K,” Dulloo said.

A baseline survey and skill gap study of the farmers is also been carried out simultaneously during the Kisan Sampark Abhiyan, he said.

The data of farmers is being captured using IT Tools for having a holistic assessment of the state of agriculture and farmers in the Union Territory.

Through the use of KISAN SATHI – the IT Dashboard created for the schemes, farmers were also informed about the method of an application under these programmes.

The farmer can quickly register on the KISAN SATHI Portal and apply for any schemes without having to physically go to an office by just scanning the QR codes on the pamphlets.