SKUAST-J inks MoU with ICICI Foundation for Sustainable Livelihood

Jammu: To catalyze and accelerate inclusive social and economic development through empowerment of farmers, Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology-Jammu on Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ICICI Foundation, Mumbai.
The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Prof. J.P Sharma, Vice-Chancellor SKUAST- Jammu and Anuj Agarwal, Chief Operating Officer, ICICI Foundation, Mumbai.
Both the parties mutually agreed to collaborate towards undertaking various initiatives to help underprivileged people in agriculture and allied activities in the mutually decided villages of Jammu Province.
Prof. J.P. Sharma, in his address, signaled the importance of MoU between SKUAST-J and ICICI foundation and said that mutual cooperation between the two parties will help in achieving the objective of sustainable food, nutritional and livelihood security in the region. He said that J&K has diverse climate and immense potential for up-scaling agriculture growth in its diverse fields.
Anuj Agarwal, Chief Operating Officer, ICICI Foundation, in his address, said that ICICI Foundation undertakes various skill development initiatives for furtherance of sustainable livelihood in order to augment India’s inclusive growth process.
According to MoU, SKUAST-Jammu shall take the responsibilities of implementation of activities under the programme by providing technical knowhow and support at its different Research Stations and KrishiVigyanKendras (KVKs). The agri-varsity shall provide training related to agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, fishery and mushroom cultivation. Besides, the training shall also focus on capacity building of farmers, farm women and rural youth in the processing of fruits and vegetables, value addition and marketing which will pave the way for increasing farmers’ income and reduce post-harvest losses.
The ICICI Foundation shall be responsible for implementing the programme. It shall raise the necessary funds to support the cost of the trainings, monitor the implementation of the programme and undertake impact assessment. Selection of the programme location and mobilization of beneficiaries shall be done jointly by the two parties.
Dr.PradeeepWali, Director Research, Dr. S.K. Gupta, Registrar, Dr.JyotiKachroo, DPM, Rajesh Talwar, Comptroller, Head of Divisions, Dr.MahitalJamwal, Deputy Director Research attended the meeting from SKUAST-Jammu whereas the officers from ICICI Foundation and ICICI Bank who attended the meeting included Abhay Sharma, Zonal Head, Rmma Thakur, Senior Project Manager, Binnie Thakur, Project Manager, Vivek Gupta, Regional Head (Retail) and Ashish Pandotra, Regional Head (Institutional Business). Proceedings of the programme were conducted by Dr.PuneetChoudhary, Head, KVK-Jammu.