Kashmir agriculture eyes revival, European buyers

JAMMU - Before militancy set in, Europeans would come to Jammu and Kashmir to buy the best quality farm seeds. And now the Himalayan state, still famous for its fruits, is trying to revive agriculture and lure the prized customers right back.

“We used to produce the best quality seeds taking advantage of the geographic and climatic conditions. Many European buyers used to come to Kashmir to buy quality seeds before the onset of militancy. Now my aim is to bring Europe back to Kashmir,” said Agriculture Minister Ghulam Hassan Mir in an exclusive interview to IANS.

“We have to focus on the production of good seeds which will become the foundation for revival of agriculture in Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.

Mir said seed multiplication and replacement are the “basis of the flourishing agriculture.” The national average in vegetable and foodgrain seed multiplication and replacement is 25 percent while that of state is 10 percent.

“My aim is not only to take it to national average but surpass it,” Mir said, adding that seed replacement is necessary every two to three years or else the productivity sharply goes down.

He said fresh seeds will be provided to farmers.

The rain-fed areas of Poonch, Rajouri, Bhaderwah, Kishtwar, Udhampur and Reasi are famous for maize cultivation. “This year the agriculture department has covered 20 percent area for replacing with hybrid seeds.”

He said Jammu and Kashmir at present is an “agriculture-deficit state”. Horticulture makes 90 percent of the agricultural produce while foodgrains and vegetables form the remaining 10 percent.

“We are surplus in fruits, but we have to really work hard in other areas. We are going to include sweet corn and baby corn from this season.”

Mir said the agriculture department’s experiment with the production of off-season maize has yielded good results.

Also, the department has successfully experimented with the double cropping of maize along with multi-cropping of vegetables like peas and different varieties of beans.

It is thinking of adopting around 400 acres of land to set up agriculture demonstration centres, said Mir.

(Binoo Joshi can be contacted at binoo.j@ians.in)