Jammu: Directorate of Floriculture, in collaboration with State Agriculture Management and Extension Training Institute (SAMETI) Jammu, Friday organised a conference cum interaction with farmers here at conference hall SKUAST (J).
The conference was organised to encourage farmers to come together on a single platform and avail government schemes.
Farmers with small land holdings were told to form Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO)s to create companies to increase their profits manifold.
Talat Parvez Rohella, Secretary Floriculture, the chief guest, said the farmers of Jammu region need to think big and grow their reach internationally. He stressed that creating FPOs in Jammu region can help farmers reach unexplored international markets. He added that FPOs will create better coordination between farmers and respective departments. The Secretary also highlighted the revenue generation potential of cash crops over food crops.
The Director Floriculture, Babila Rakwal apprised farmers about the scope of Farmer Producer Organisations and schemes of the department for farmers.
Officials from NABARD also gave detailed presentation on FPOs. Farmers from existing FPOs also shared their experiences with other farmers. They also apprised the authorities about benefits and problems being faced by them.
Others present at the conference were DGM, NABARD, Geeta Singh, Director Extension, Dr KS Risam and Joint Director Floriculture Pran Dullu. The participating farmers had come all the way form Doda, Samba, Kathua, Kishtwar and Jammu districts.
