Horticulture deptt organizes farm machinery mela in Srinagar

Srinagar : Department of Horticulture Thursday organized a district level farm machinery mela and training cum awareness program for farmers under Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) at its Lal Mandi office here.
The farm machine mela was jointly inaugurated by Director Horticulture Manzoor Ahmad Qadri and Additional District Development Commissioner Srinagar Mehraj ud din.
Director Horticulture was Chief Guest on the occasion while Additional District Development Commissioner Srinagar was Guest of Honor.
Experts from Sheri Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences (SKUAST) and Krishi Vigyan held interactions with farmers and counseled them on technical and other problems related to diseases and agricultural produce.
The Director said the mela has been organized to create awareness among the farmers regarding the use of new technologies in improving the produce besides apprising them of the monetary support in terms of subsidies.
He said they are providing support to farmers both in plantation and mechanisation adding that in plantation they are providing fifty percent subsidy on high density plantation, Rs two lakh on pack houses, Rs fifty thousand on wormy compost besides subsidy worth crores of rupees on Control Atmosphere Stores (CAS) and cold storages.
Qadri said they are providing subsidies to the farmers on the machines they purchase as per their requirement and later transfer the subsidy amount to their account through direct benefit transfer (DBT).
He said they have already drafted horticulture policy and the same will be brought into the public domain to seek inputs from growers so that no lacunae remains there and farmers can derive a benefit from it.
Emphasizing on shunning practice of contract farming he said farmers should sell their produce in fruit mandis’ and form Farmer Producer Organizations in each zone so that selling agricultural produce can be streamlined.
Director said there is no specific insurance for horticulture crops and that they are trying to extend existing crop insurance meant for paddy and corn to weather-based horticulture sector.
ADDC Srinagar, MehrajUd Din stressed farmers to incorporate new farming techniques so that production is improved.