Emphasizing that grievance redressal should be the top priority of the officers, Additional Chief Secretary, Agriculture Production Department (APD), Atal Dulloo Tuesday directed the officers of APD to provide robust extension services to the farmers of Jammu and Kashmir.
He passed on these directions while chairing two separate meetings to discuss the progress on district-wise extension plans of the Kashmir and Jammu divisions.
The meetings to discuss the district-wise extension plans of Kashmir/Jammu divisions were attended by Secretary of Agriculture Production Department, Director General Planning, Agriculture Production Department, Director General, Command Area Development, Kashmir/Jammu along with all District officers, Director General, Planning, AP&FW Department, Director Finance, AP&FW Department, Director Sericulture, J&K, MD, KAIDOL, Director Agriculture, Kashmir/Jammu along with all District Officers.
While chairing the meetings, Dulloo said that grievance redressal of farmers should be the top priority of the officers and extension workers must be actively taking their roles in this regard.
He directed the Chief Agriculture Officers to ensure that extension workers are active in the field and are taking the grievances of farmers seriously.
He said that the workers should go to farmers and meet them regularly and provide prompt solutions to their grievances.
Dulloo directed the officers to visit the fields and see the prevalence of any unscientific agriculture practices and encourage farmers to adopt modern techniques in a scientific manner.
He said that farmers should be made aware of the modern agriculture practices which increase agricultural output. He added that sustainable agricultural operations and farming practices should be promoted among the farmers which yield positive impacts on the environment, animals, and people.
Dulloo further directed the officers for technology dissemination among farmers and said that improving agricultural productivity depends on technology uptake and utilization. He also said that all these steps should be taken with the intention to provide timely information to farmers on smarter techniques and practices and ensure the availability of fertilizers and chemicals.
He also said that the farming community should be made aware of the different schemes like CSS, Capex, PM Kisan, and Central Sector Schemes launched by the government and it must be ensured that the farmers are taking benefits of these schemes. He also directed them to include the eligible farmers in the PM Kisan who have been left behind.
While discussing the progress of district-wise extension plans of Kashmir and Jammu divisions of the Sericulture sector, Dulloo directed the officers from Jammu and Kashmir divisions to involve more and more people in this sector and encourage them to take this as a supplementary source of income. He asked them to involve tribals, Self Help Groups under a convergence plan to increase the income of the farmers.
Dulloo also directed the Director of Agriculture Kashmir/Jammu to make high-quality videos to meet the challenges of disseminating information to farmers and reaching the poor, marginalised, women, and young people. “The videos should include raising awareness, introducing different crop varieties and technologies, stimulating demand for support, farmer-to-farmer extension, training on agricultural innovations, stimulating creativity, and as a tool for documenting and monitoring and evaluation,” he said.
He also said that phone-in programmes shall be organised weekly where grievances and FAQs of farmers shall be addressed.
Earlier, the Director of Agriculture Kashmir/Jammu gave a presentation of their respective divisions about the progress on district-wise extension plans.
They briefed the ACS about the training programmes that are being organised for the farmers and said that requisite steps are in place for the implementation of the State Extension Works Plan.
They also said that incentives are being given to progressive farmers besides holding demonstrations and farmer-scientist interactions. (KNO)
