Parveen Kumar & Raj Kumar Gupta
Located in the lap of Pir Panjal range of the mighty Himalayas and amongst one of the 20 districts in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Ramban as an independent district was carved out of erstwhile Doda District in the year 2007. Standing on the banks of mighty Chenab on the National Highway-1A (now NH44), it is almost at equal distance from both the summer and winter capitals of the UT.
Originally Known as Nashband, the history of its settlement is very interesting. Before the formation of the J&K State in 1846, there was a small village consisting of 15 houses on the right bank of Chenab known as Nashband (now ‘Ramban’). When Raja Gulab Singh of Jammu became the Maharaja of J&K State, he adopted Jammu-Udhampur-Banihal route to reach Srinagar for the movement of royal Carvans. In this process, Ramban got the status of halting station for the royal Carvans. The Dogras constructed a pucca building near present Ramban and a wooden bridge for the crossing of Chenab River. As mentioned in the book ‘Maharaja Ranbir Singh’ by Sukhdev Singh Chadak, Maharaja directed for a cart road from Jammu to Srinagar via Banihal and a suspension bridge over Chenab River at Ramban. In due course of time, this road became national highway; the halting station Ramban also developed a lot and now it is a district and referred to as the gateway to Kashmir.
Endeavour of KVK-Ramban
Ramban district is mostly rural and only 4% of population resides in its towns i. e Ramban, Batote and Banihal. With a total geographical area of 1,329 km2, the district has eleven blocks. As far as climate is concerned, it varies according to the altitude; from intermediate in low altitude areas to temperate in high altitudes. The intermediate zone falls within the altitude of 700 to 1000 m amsl. It covers 15% of the total area of which 95% is unirrigated. Sildhar, Kanthi, Seeri, Maitra, Chakna, Thopal, Parnote, Kangha, Chanderkote, Kunfer, Adhna and Marog fall in the Intermediate zone. The temperate zone falls in the mod to high altitudes at an elevation of 1000 to 3000 m amsl and cover area of Ramban, Gool, Ramsoo, Batote, Khari, Ukheral, Rajgarh, Banihal and Sangaldan. It covers 85% area of the district of which 95 per cent is unirrigated. About 95% of the total area under paddy cultivation is in this zone. The average annual rainfall in the district is 1330.7 mm.
Agriculture is the main source of livelihood in the district along with Horticulture and Livestock also as other important sectors contributing to the livelihood security of the population of the region. Crops are grown from an altitude of 723 meters in Ramban to about 3000 meters amsl in Gool. The wide range of altitudinal difference and the unique topography of this region provide the much needed agro-climatic diversity for year round production of vegetable crops like French beans, Tomato, vole crops, cucurbits, Brinjal, potatoes and peas. The cropping intensity of the district is more than 150 and most of the cultivated area is under double cropping of Maize-Fodder, Maize-Wheat and Paddy-Fodder/Oilseeds. Maize along with mix cropping of Rajmash is also grown here. Although on a negligible area, Millets like Kodo millet, Barnyard millet, Fox tail millet, Buck wheat, Amaranthus are also grown in some villages. Garlic, Onion and Turmeric are also cultivated in this district.
The total area of the district according to village papers is reported to be 1, 13, 787 ha of which net cultivated area is 19,195 ha (16.87%). The area under fruit crops 14, 209 ha, area under social forestry is 1, 218 ha and area under forestry is 641.71 km2 which is about 53% of total area of the district. The net area under irrigation is only 7% which means the district is largely rainfed. As far as size of landholdings is concerned, the average size of landholdings is 0.30 ha. Of the total 31,880 farm operating families, 26,586 (83%) are marginal one having less than 1 ha of land. About 4,700 (15%) of them are small having 2 ha of land, 531 (1.67%) fall in semi medium category having land up to 4 hectares and less than 1% falling in the medium category with land up to 10 hectares. There is no large farmer in the district. The Department of agriculture of the UT of Jammu and Kashmir is serving farming community. It is comprised of two sub divisions of Ramban and Gool and further divided into 65 agricultural circles and 13 agricultural zones.
Krishi Vigyan Kendra-Ramban: Krishi Vigyan Kendra-Ramban under the administrative control of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu was established in the year 2022 as a front line agriculture extension institute of the district catering to the diverse information, advisory, training, diagnostic and mobilization needs of farming community including farm women and rural youth. KVK-Ramban and KVK-Kishtwar both were established in the same year. KVK-Ramban has been established at Dhalwas about 15 kilometers before district headquarters located at Ramban.
Soon after its establishment, it engaged in its various mandated activities besides involvement in different national level programmes and collaborations with various agencies and departments to uplift the socio-economic status of the farming community of this region. Information related to different technologies and various sustainable agricultural practices is being disseminated through various awareness and sensitization programmes being conducted by KVK Ramban in different villages of the district. To augment the production of different crops including vegetables, KVK Ramban provides HYV seeds of maize and different vegetables. Various Front Line Demonstrations (FLDs) of Maize have been laid out in farmers fields. The results have been encouraging. The yield of these demonstrations plots are much higher than the varieties the farmers used to grow. The high quality vegetable seed provided to the farmers also ensures nutritional security of rural women who are more vulnerable to various nutrient deficiencies. The government is also focusing on skill and entrepreneurship development of the youths. There are various areas in agriculture and allied sectors like mushroom production, vermicomposting, seed production, poultry rearing, fisheries etc in which youth can upgrade their skills and set up their own enterprise to create job opportunities for others also. For the youths of the district, KVK Ramban conducts various skills oriented training programmes.
Last year, KVK-Ramban organized a mega Kisan mela for the farming community of the region. Various stall depicting different technologies, inputs/products/models were displayed by different stakeholders. Recently KVK-Ramban participated pro-actively in the Viksit Bharat Sankalp Yatra that went through every nook and corner of the district sensitizing the farming community about various agricultural related schemes. KVK-Ramban has also been selected for ‘Out scaling Natural Farming through KVKs’ a national level initiative of Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare aimed at awareness and training of the farming community about natural farming practices. Motivated by KVK-Ramban, many farmers in this district have taken to Natural farming and are satisfied with the outcome in terms of reduced cost of cultivation and positive impact on environment. Cultivation of millets is also being promoted through sensitization of farmers on role of millets in ensuring nutritional security and in minimizing the negative impacts of climate change. Important national and international days like National Farmers’ Day, World Soil Day are being celebrated with the active participation of farming community. KVK Ramban is also developing an integrated model demonstration farm at village Dhalwas which also acts as a learning center for the farming community. The farm center is also working on mobilizing the producers into various collective associations like Self Help Groups, Farmer Producer Companies (FPCs) and Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs).
Although still in the initial years of its establishment, yet under the dynamic leadership of Prof. B. N. Tripathi and the supervision of Prof. Amrish Vaid, Director Extension; KVK- Ramban will soon emerge as a knowledge, learning and skill center in this region ultimately contributing to the socio-economic upliftment of the farming community of this district.
