Srinagar: The government on Friday said that around 62 LMT of apples were produced in Jammu and Kashmir in the last three years while an effective mechanism has been put in place to provide quality inputs to farmers.
Reply to the question of Dr Bashir Ahmad Veeri, MLA Bijbehara, Minister for Agriculture production as per news agency JKNS informed that Jammu and Kashmir has produced around 62 LMTs of apple in last three years viz a viz 20.40 LMT in 2022-23, 20.64 LMT in 2023-24 and 20.56 in 2024-25.
While replying to his another question regarding sale of sub standard fertilizers and pesticides, the Minister said that Department has put in place an effective Monitoring mechanism to provide quality inputs i.e. Pesticides/Fertilizers/Seeds among the farming community.
“It is mandatory for every company to get their products registered from concerned registering authorities under Insecticides Act 1968 & Rules 1971, Fertilizer Control order 1985 and Seed Act 1966.” He said.
“The directorate enforcement of Agriculture Department is monitoring quality parameters of agricultural inputs on a regular basis. There is huge potential in Horticulture sector in terms of revenue generation and creating job avenues. Horticulture Sector plays an important role and contributes significantly to the economy of UT. It is a source of livelihood for 35 lakh souls and about 7 lakh families are directly or indirectly involved in this sector.” He added.
He added that during 2021-22 the horticulture produce was 23.41 LMT with export 12.07 LMT followed by 27.21 LMT production and 17.48 LMT export in 2022-23, 26.43 production and 18.57 export in 2023-24 and 26.46 production and 13.13 LMT export till in 2024-25.
He added that in order to realise the potential of the horticulture sector, various steps were taken that included a high density plantation scheme.
“Since the inception of high density scheme in 2016-17, an area of 663 hectares has been covered(ending March 2024). During 2024-25, an additional 173 hectares have been covered under the High Density Plantation scheme, bringing the total area coverage to 836 hectares as of January 2025.” Minister said.
He added that through Agriculture Marketing (e-NAM), A network of Fruit and Vegetable Markets has been established across the Union Territory (UT) to facilitate horticultural marketing. Growers and traders operate in these markets, creating employment for numerous stakeholders.
“The Department has set up 24 mandis in Jammu and Kashmir, with 13 more under development. Seventeen (17) mandis are integrated with the e-NAM (National Agricultural Market) portal for electronic transactions. Over 50,000 farmers and traders are registered on e-NAM.” He added.
He said that schemes like Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP), Rainfed Area Development- (RAD). (for providing irrigation facilities),vPradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME) (for promotion of processing industries, Farm Mechanization and Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture (MIDH) are in place for promotion of Horticulture sector.—(JKNS)
