Srinagar, 18 Sept: Kashmir’s Sweet Corn production is likely to be 7.3 MT this year, with cultivation likely to reach 132 hectares. Agriculture Department is also going to celebrate Sweet Corn Day to appreciate the efforts of Sweet Corn farmers and the concerned officers of the Department who worked on this venture.
This was stated during a meeting Director Agriculture Kashmir Chowdhary Mohammad Iqbal today held with the senior officers of the Department and JKHPMC regarding the marketing of Sweet Corn in and outside Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaking on the occasion, Director Agriculture asked the concerned officers to explore all the available marketing options in and outside the UT of J&K. Besides the conventional markets ensure the availability of sweet corn at all the tourist destinations of valley, he said and, added.
Director Agriculture said the Department is going to celebrate Sweet Corn Day to appreciate the efforts of Sweet Corn Farmers and the concerned officers/ officials of the Department who worked hard to make it a successful venture. Director Agriculture reiterated the hand holding to the farmers so that they could not face any problem with respect to the marketing of their produce. He directed the concerned Chief Agriculture Officers to showcase sweet corn at local as well as outside markets because sweet corn is still a new crop to the consumers of valley which will on one hand help the propagation of this cereal and on the other hand will also attract more and more farmers towards this remunerative and economically sustainable agriculture commodity.
Chowdhary Iqbal asked the officers to make use of refrigerated vans of the Department for the transportation and marketing of the sweet corn. He directed for exploring the value addition of Sweet Corn so that it could be branded more effectively at different marketing platforms in and outside of UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
Pertinent to mention 132 hectares of land has been brought under the cultivation of sweet corn this year in the valley with an anticipated production 7.3 MT of sweet corn.
Speaking on the occasion, MD JKHPMC Shafat Sultan reiterated the commitment of corporation to provide the better marketing facilities to sweet corn growers. He said that Corporation is working to explore the possibilities of processing of sweet corn so that it could be offered to the consumers in a multi seasonal and multi formal manner. He said that in the coming days as we are expecting large quantity of sweet corn and to manage that quantity we have a cold storage room at Doabgah Sopore where the produce could be temporarily stored before for fetching optimal prices besides reducing perish ability of produce.
Earlier Chief Agriculture officers of concerned districts who were participating in the meeting through virtual mode gave detailed progress report regarding the marketing of sweet corn in their respective districts.
The meeting was attended by MD JKHPMC Shafat Sultan, Joint Director Marketing Mohammad Qasim Gani and all the Chief Agriculture Officers of Kashmir Division.
