JAMMU, JANUARY 31: Directorate of Agriculture Jammu today organized a regional meeting of Northern States on Price Policy for Kharif crops, 2023 -24 here at conference hall, Talab Tillo, Jammu.
Prof. Vijay Paul Sharma, Chairman, Commission for Agricultural Costs & Prices ( CACP); D. K. Pandey, Advisor, CACP; Dr. Naveen Parkash Singh, Member, CACP; Joint Director Agriculture Jammu, AS Reen; Joint Director Marketing PHMI & FM, Mahesh Verma; Director research, RBS College, Agra, Dr AR Sharma; Deputy Director Supplies, Department of Food & Civil Supplies, Jammu, Seema Parihar; representatives of Agriculture Department and Food Supplies from Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand; Members of Kisan Advisory Board and other concerned officials attend the meeting.
The Chairman CACP informed the house that the aim of the meeting was to fix the Minimum Support Price (MSP) for Kharif Crops so that the farming community gets a reasonable price for their produce. He further said that the suggestions, recommendations and ideas come from the farmers/society and the kisan advisory board plays a key role in the fixation of price policy of crops.
Director Agriculture Jammu, K.K. Sharma apprised the house about the status, targets and achievements of the Agriculture Department. It was pointed out that the J&K UT stands at 3rd position in case of farmers’ income as the Department worked tirelessly even during the COVID-19 to protect the interest of farmers and holistic development of the Agriculture Sector.
The Department has established 23 procurement Mandis to maintain a reasonable price for agriculture products and during the year 3.36 lakh quintal Paddy was procured covering 6549 farmers and crediting Rs 68.88 crore rupees in their accounts within 48 hours through DBT.
The objective of the Department is to provide quality seeds, protecting farmer’s interest, maintaining a reasonable price for agricultural products and increasing agriculture production.
He further elaborated that Agriculture is the main stay of the population of J&K, 70% of the population depend on Agriculture & allied sectors and about 49% of the working population is engaged in it and the sector has been growing at an average of 2.02% (2011-12 prices) and contributes 18% to the GDP of J&K. J&K is essentially a mountainous region in which only about 18% of area is under cultivation.
Threadbare discussion was held on various aspects like Factors Affecting Agricultural Price Policy, Production costs, Input price changes, Price Parity Between Inputs and Outputs, Market Price Trends, Price Parity Between Crops, the Supply and Demand Situation, Impact on Industrial Cost Structure, General price level effects, Cost of living effects, etc.
The representatives made various suggestions and recommendations during the meeting. The Director Agriculture, Jammu called for keeping the provision of KCC loan for Beekeeping & Mushroom activities and insurance coverage to migratory beekeepers. “There is a need to invest more in the Agri-Infrastructure, Expand the ambit of MSP coverage to maintain agricultural product price stability” he added.
