SRINAGAR, OCTOBER 11- Principal Secretary Horticulture and Agriculture departments, Navin Kumar Choudhary today inaugurated “Buyer-Seller Meet” organized to popularize the consumption of local fruits, at Horticulture Complex Raj Bagh here.
The programme was organized by the Department of Horticulture, Kashmir in collaboration with C. A Storage Owners Association Kashmir and Fruit & Vegetable Processing Association Kashmir.
Addressing the gathering at the event, Navin Choudhary said that the meet is being held with an aim to popularize the consumption of local fruits among the locals here besides making them aware of different varieties of horticulture products.
Navin maintained that the government is committed to providing all possible assistance to the farmers in order to boost the horticulture production in Jammu and Kashmir. He asked the farmers to switch over to High-Density cropping from a traditional one as it will boost productivity as well as generate more income for them.
The Principal Secretary exhorted upon the youth to take due benefits of the schemes launched by GOI for improving entrepreneurship culture here and asked them to become job providers instead of Jobseekers.
Speaking on the occasion, Director Horticulture said that the department is providing due assistance to the farmers under different schemes besides awareness programmes are being constantly held across all districts regarding the introduction of new technologies in the horticulture sector. He added that the department will be very soon setting up Walnut Nurseries to increase walnut production on scientific lines and boost its export.
During the event, stalls were put up showcasing more than 25 samples of fresh and dried fruits like apple, Pear, Peach, Pomegranate, Persimmon, Lime, Galgal, Walnut, Almond, and Peanuts besides, value-added products such as Jam, Juice, Pickles, Squashes of different fruits were also displayed in the event to boost the home scale processing of horticulture produce. The event was attended by a large number of people hailing from different areas of Kashmir valley.
Director Horticulture Kashmir Ajaz Ahmad Bhat, Chief Horticulture Officers, Districts/zone level Officers, President C. A Storage Owners Association Kashmir and President Fruit & Vegetable Processing Association Kashmir were also present during the event.