Omar for making horticulture rewarding career

JAMMU: Emphasizing the need for making horticulture and agricultural activities lucrative, attractive and substantial, Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah Saturday called for motivating youth to seeking career in these fields.
“This would not only help them earn a handsome livelihood but help in the economic growth of the State considerably”, he said adding that the sectors of tourism and handicrafts are equally rich in the potential of providing respectable and profitable self employment to the youth.
Addressing a function after inaugurating Horti-Expo and Divisional Fruit Show at Kala Kendra here, the Chief Minister said that a State like Jammu and Kashmir which has great future in horticulture, agriculture, tourism, handicrafts and allied sectors is confronted with unemployment crisis calls for retrospection, awareness and reformative approach.
“This is the area of concern needing focused attention”, he said and asked all the stakeholders including government departments to make youth aware of the potential available in these sectors for them to venture upon and bring economic prosperity to them and the State. He said there is something wrong which needs to be corrected so that the young and educated members of farming community, handicraft families, horticulturists, etc shun the inhibitions in taking up these practices for career and economic progress.
Referring to the initiatives his Government has taken to give forward push to the horticulture sector in both the divisions of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh region, the Chief Minister said that he has recently approved raising of subsidy on micro and drip-irrigation facilities from 50% to 90% to achieve twin objectives of ensuring water harvesting and giving boost to the productivity and production of horticulture produce. “This will also provide opportunities for young people in rural areas to establish quality orchards utilizing drip-irrigation on 90% subsidy”, he added.
Minister for Revenue, Raman Bhalla, Minister of State for Horticulture, Javid Ahmad Dar and Vice Chairman Kissan Welfare Board, Rachpal Singh also spoke on the occasion while Legislator, M. Y. Taing and Vice Chancellor SKUAST, Jammu, Dr. Mishra were present.
In his welcome address the Director Horticulture, Jammu, J. L. Sharma presented resume of the activities and achievements of the department in developing horticulture in the division. He said 1100 orchards of 28 improve varieties of Amla have been developed in the division and the production of walnuts has touched to about 40000 tones per annum.
He said the area under horticulture has been raised to 1.09 lakh hectares in 2010-11 and the production of fruit has been of the order of 1.69 lakh tones.
A large number of horticulturists from Jammu division had kept samples of different varieties of dry and fresh fruits including apples, walnuts, almond, amla, kiwi, kenu, orange, lemon, galgala, scarlet siberian, papaya, guava, sweet lemon, banana, quince apple, pickles, jams, juices and medicinal plants were on display in the show. Some 50 stalls of agricultural appliances, dip-irrigation, bio-fertilizers and insecticides were installed in the Expo in which 11 companies of national repute participated.