Jammu: Minister for Horticulture, Syed Basharat Ahmed Bukhari convened a meeting to review the functioning of Horticulture department in Jammu division.
Minister of State for Education, Tourism and Horticulture, Priya Sethi, Vice Chairman Horticulture Development Board, Abdul S. Reshi, Secretary Horticulture, M.H Malik, Director Horticulture Jammu, Bhawani Rakwal and senior functionaries of Horticulture Department attended the meeting.
The Minister assessed the District wise status report of new plantation and directed the concerned officers to speed up the work to achieve the set targets im time. “Systematic approach must be adopted by the concerned officers for the progressive functioning of the department”, he said.
The Minister said the horticulture sector in the state has great potential and an inclusive mechanism shall be put in place to yield fruitful results. He asked the officers to use modern methods to stay at par with the other states.
Bukhari directed the concerned officers to identify more land for the expansion of nurseries throughout the division and asked for preparing a parameter within a week to identify land.
The Minister said active partaking of stakeholders is vital for effective implementation of the schemes and asked the officers to organize more events to encourage the fruit growers and provide better marketing avenues to them .He also stressed on creating awareness about soil health among the farmers along with latest technology in the field of horticulture .
He directed concerned authorities to form a committee of experts to identify good nurseries throughout the division and put comprehensive efforts to expand the same.
Mentioning the long awaited census for horticulture in the state, the Minister congratulated the concerned officers for the completion of the same. He said the census will assist in the formation of Horticulture policy in the state and directed all the district level officers to update census data regularly.
The Minister also reviewed the progress on activities carried out in mango village in Jammu district. He directed the concerned officers to submit a comprehensive report of all the developmental activities in various districts to his office.
