Onlykashmir.in News Desk
Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology Kashmir has stressed the need for sustained handholding, capacity building and institutional strengthening of Farmer Producer Organisations, during a mobilisation drive held at Pattan under the university’s ongoing agricultural competitiveness programme.
The drive was organised by The Harvesting Harmony Farmer Producer Organisation Cooperative under the Upscaling Collectivisation Component of the IFAD sponsored Jammu and Kashmir Competitiveness Improvement of Agriculture and Allied Sectors Project, in collaboration with the Directorate of Extension at SKUAST Kashmir. More than 185 farmers and prospective members took part in the programme, which aimed to promote Farmer Producer Organisations, encourage collective action among growers and strengthen farmer led institutions across the valley.
Addressing the gathering, the Director of Extension and Dean of Horticulture at SKUAST Kashmir underlined the importance of sustained institutional support for rural collectives, saying such handholding is essential if Farmer Producer Organisations are to emerge as genuinely effective, farmer led enterprises rather than remaining loosely organised groups. She noted that these organisations can help farmers gain access to modern agricultural technologies, quality inputs, institutional credit, value addition facilities and organised markets, thereby enhancing farm incomes and encouraging more sustainable agricultural enterprises across rural Kashmir.
Senior scientists associated with the Krishi Vigyan Kendra Baramulla and the Upscaling Collectivisation component of the competitiveness project also addressed the gathering, emphasising the role of scientific farming methods, collective marketing strategies, increased membership drives and active farmer participation in building sustainable Farmer Producer Organisations. Officials highlighted the university’s continuing role in supporting capacity building, value addition, branding and market intelligence efforts designed to enhance the competitiveness of farmer collectives operating in the region.
The programme concluded with an interactive session in which farmers raised a range of queries relating to Farmer Producer Organisation membership, governance structures, business planning and the broader benefits of collectivisation, with university experts addressing these concerns directly and encouraging greater farmer participation. The initiative forms part of a wider push by SKUAST Kashmir and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to modernise the region’s agricultural economy through farmer collectives, a strategy officials say could meaningfully improve incomes for smallholder farmers across north Kashmir’s agrarian belt in the years ahead.
