Dr. Parveen Kumar
The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is heading for revolutionary changes in the agricultural and allied sectors. Infact this UT has started witnessing the changes. Under the visionary leadership of Manoj Sinha, Lieutenant Governor of Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, a renewed thrust is being given to agriculture and allied sectors through Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) by technology backstopping, farm friendly interventions, farmer’s mobilization and increasing extension outreach through an all inclusive and bottom up approach. Both the farm varisties of the UT along with the agriculture and line departments have been working around the clock to ensure that the benefits of various programmes ultimately reach out to end users. As pointed out by LG, the ultimate aim of all this exercise is to empower 13 lakh farm families with a special focus on 3 lakh farm families which fall under the category of marginal farmers and are hence more vulnerable.
To strengthen the agriculture and allied sectors and to overcome various constraints faced by the farming community in availing the benefits of various government schemes, administration of Union Territory came up with an Apex Level Committee (UTALC) for holistic development of agriculture and allied sectors. The committee was to devise a roadmap for holistic development of agriculture and allied sectors in Jammu and Kashmir. The eight member committee assisted by different Technical Working Groups (TWG) is headed by Dr. Mangla Rai, Former Director General, Indian Council of Agricultural Research. The committee after hectic and rigorous deliberations with different stakeholders came up with a Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) in which different targets were set up for development of agriculture and allied sectors and these targets were to be achieved in the next five years. The different targets to be achieved include doubling contribution of Agri-GDP in next five years, increasing Seed Replacement Rate (SRR), doubling resource use efficiency in respect of nutrients and moisture, reducing food wastage through proper post harvest management by building suitable infrastructure and food processing; tripling of food processing by focusing on secondary agriculture; building capacity to meet the requirements of the quality planting material; establishment of functional and profitable Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), availing of Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), vocational skill trainings, build state data banks using artificial intelligence and ICT tools and to reduce the use of agrochemicals. Twenty Nine (29) different projects aimed at transforming the agricultural economy of J&K have been sanctioned under HADP. Monitorable indicators have been set up for each of the Projects. The twenty nine projects are expected to almost double the output of the sectors, boosting exports and making the sectors sustainable and viable. The agricultural output which stands at rupees 37,600 crores shall increase by over rupees 28,142 crores to reach 65700 crores per year with a resultant increment in sectoral growth rate to 11 per cent. The interventions shall create employment opportunities for over 2.8 lakh youth and establish around 19,000 enterprises. More than 2.5 lakh peoples shall be skilled in various agri-enterprises.
Among these 29 projects, Project No. 20 entitled Innovative Approaches in Agriculture Extension aims to revitalize the agricultural extension services in the Union Territory by incorporating IT Based solutions, making it more inclusive with a bottom up approach for Development of Agriculture in Jammu and Kashmir. Twenty one Monitorable indicators have been identified for the project on Innovative Approaches in Agricultural Extension. Of these 21 indicators, the one which has the potential to strengthen and revolutionize agricultural extension and advisory services in the rural areas is the establishment of 2000 Kisan Khidmat Ghars’ as one-stop service centers providing end-to-end linkages.
On August 04, Lieutenant Governor of the UT Manoj Sinha inaugurated 500 Kisan Khidmat Ghars’ (online mode) for the farming community of the UT in the Kisan Unnati Sammelan being held at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir Shalimar, Srinagar. While inaugurating them, he told that the KKGs will serve as one-stop service hubs, offering comprehensive support, from input supply to marketing and technological assistance to the farming community of the region. Sh. Sinha termed their establishment as a significant milestone in the journey under the Holistic Agriculture Development Program. KKGs equipped with modern Information Technology Systems will ensure efficient delivery of critical services such as input booking, soil health monitoring, plant diagnostics, market intelligence, and capacity building. These Centres will also enable farmers’ access to custom hiring services, artificial insemination, horticulture and institutional data ensuring that farmers have access to necessary and timely services. On this occasion, LG also launched Kisan Khidmat Ghar mobile App, designed to provide comprehensive support to farmers. Both the KKGs and the mobile application will greatly enhance accessibility to information and services, leading to better decision-making and higher productivity. Farmers can use Kisan Khidmat Ghar app for credit support, crop price forecasting, decision support, applying for government schemes, booking expert consultations, locating dealers, and accessing skilling courses, farming calendars, and guides. The integration of Internet of Things (IoT) along with Artificial Intelligence (AI), and real-time data analytics will definitely pave the way for revolutionizing the agricultural extension services. In the first phase 500 KKGs have been inaugurated across the length and breadth of this UT and 1500 KKGs will be established in the second phase for which the work is to be completed by end of this year.
The Kisan Khidmat Ghars as a vital and potent tool in agricultural extension will definitely do away with the several generic constraints which our traditional agricultural extension system is prone to. The public extension system prevalent in the country often fails to take into account the needs and perceptions of the farming community because of their linear approach leading to huge gap between public sector extension institutions and farmers. The lack of trained men power is another constraint with the public extension system which often devoid farming community of reliable and timely knowledge. The KKGs will definitely bridge the present large gap in agriculture extension worker to farmer ratio. It will also be a storehouse of expertise as the knowledge and information provided to the farming community will be reliable blended with technology and real time data analysis. As the KKGs are set up at Panchayat level, these will be accountable to local representatives. These centres will bring essential services directly to farmers’ doorsteps ensuring last mile delivery of extension services. Besides, the establishment of 2000 KKGs also means employment to 2000 youths also.
As the Krishi Udyami employed in these Kisan Khidmat Ghars are young agriculture graduates mostly and they have to cater to a diverse set of population with varied consultancy, advisory and diagnostic needs; it is necessary that their skills and knowledge be regularly updated and upgraded so that they can provide their services more effectively.
(The author writes on agriculture and social issues)
