"Agriculture is one of the vital sectors responsible for state's economy. Government has accorded focused attention to further strengthen this sector by evolving new and innovative measures", the minister said while replying to the demand of grants of his departments in the Legislative Assembly today.
For this purpose, the government has earmarked a whooping Rs 100 crore for various agricultural projects under NABARD.
He said seed replacement has been given special impetus so that the government can provide quality seeds to the farmers, adding that the seed replacement rate which was earlier as minimal as 10 per cent has become more than the national average for wheat and oats, whileas for rice the seed replacement rate has increased to more than 25 per cent.
The step is aimed to increase the productivity and to make the state self reliant in food items, he added.
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He said the younger generation is shying away from this profession and are mostly choosing the government jobs, but agriculture is the richest sector which can bring more prosperity for the youth and they can contribute to the state in improving the economy as well.
The advanced mechanisation in agriculture and diversification of crops will be made another thrust area and farmers will be educated to adopt cash crops, he said.
The government has also taken important measures for making easy agriculture credit facility to the farmers at low interest rate at the time of need, he said and added that 4 lakh Kissan Credit Cards (KCCs) have been issued and an amount of Rs 1,300 crore has been disbursed among the KCC holders during the current fiscal.
Highlighting the importance of Saffron, the Minister said Jammu and Kashmir is the only state in the country which produces this precious commodity and to promote this sector the government has launched an exclusive National Saffron Mission with an objective to introduce latest agriculture techniques for enhancing its quality production and marketability.