AAYEIN SABZI UGAYEIN campaign gains momentum across Kashmir

By: Farhan Ahmed

Srinagar: Aayein Sabzi Ugayein campaign has gained momentum across Kashmir with more and more people coming forward and doing kitchen gardening to grow more vegetables in these lockdown times.

In the campaign, undertaken by Agriculture Department Kashmir in partnership with Ziraat Times, besides home delivery of seeds and seedlings by Agriculture Department personnel, private parties and individuals are collabirating in both urban and rural areas in making sure seeds and seedlings are available to people.

“I am delighted to have joined the campaign. I have carved out some space from my garden for kitchen gardening. Got guidance from the campaign and it now feels great”, said Zahoor Ahmed, a resident of Rajbagh.

Some eminent people like businessman Manzoor Wangnoo, entreprenuer Dr Gazalla Amin, RTI activist Dr Raja Muzaffar Bhat, journalist Farooq Khan, Insha Rasool and many others have shared their work on their social media spaces and thrown their weight behind the campign.

Syed Altaf Andrabi, Director Agriculture Department Kashmir is upbeat, “It is my passion to get engaged and personally help people in endeavours like this. We, of course, have more to do, but looking at the response, I feel we can make it a mass campaign through wider enagagement and involvement of the private sector.”

One of the centres of attention in the campaign so far is the Lal Mandi seedling farm of the Department. Enjoying immense reputation for producing good quality hybrid seedlings for vegetables, the farm products are in huge demand.

“This farm was originally conceived as a seedling centre for Srinagar district because there are similar seedling farms in other districts, but people come here across Kashmir division. They trust our quality”, Manzoor Ahmad Shah, the head of the division told Ziraat Times.

While more and more people are coming forward for undertaking kitchen gardening, some people are also experiencing challenges in finding good quality seeds and seedlings in remote areas and areas under strict lockdown.

“We are at work and will try to fill in the gap through greater capacity augmentation”, a senior Agriculture Department official told Ziraat Times.

To promote cultivation of vegetables by public in their kitchen gardens for improved food security and physical activity, the Department of Agriculture on April 15 kick started distribution of various vegetable saplings of Hybrid Tomato, Saag (Khanyari), Boutle gourd, Cucumber among the growers and kitchen garden lovers at Lalmandi under the campaign “AAYEIN SABZI UGAYEIN”.

The ongoing campaign is aimed at ensuring maximum reach out to the growers who could use their spaces and enjoy healthy supply of vegetables in these extra ordinary circumstances.

Editor’s note: Ziraat Times will be producing regular updates on the campaign, including experiences of public and officials engaged in the campaign.