Agriculture sector contributes 78% of J&K’s GSDP. Its land must be preserved. 

As the Jammu & Kashmir government confirmed this week, agriculture and allied sectors contribute more than 78% of former state’s GDP and remain the principal source of livelihood for over 13 lakh families. Yet, even as this sector continues to underpin J&K’s economy and food security, a silent crisis is unfolding—the unrelenting conversion of agricultural land for urban development.

The numbers are clear, the warnings are louder, yet the pace of urbanisation in Kashmir shows no signs of slowing. What is even more alarming is the trend of indiscriminate residential and commercial construction on fertile agricultural land, especially in Kashmir Valley. Villages once rich in paddy fields, orchards, and saffron belts are rapidly transforming into unregulated urban sprawls.

If this trajectory continues unchecked, Kashmir could be left with barely any agricultural land in the next 20 to 30 years. The implications are stark: rising food imports, collapse of the horticulture economy, rural unemployment, ecological instability, and erosion of cultural identity.

While flagship programs like the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP), Soil Health Card Scheme, and Agro-Marketing Infrastructure projects show vision and intent, they cannot succeed if the very base of agriculture—land—continues to shrink.

Kashmir’s strength lies in its high-value horticulture, saffron fields, and organic crops. The HADP’s initiatives like designer plant production and controlled atmosphere storage chains are commendable, but without strict land use regulation, their impact will be limited.

The time to act is now. J&K needs a comprehensive land protection law, stringent regulation against agri-land conversion, and incentives for preserving farmland. Equally important is public awareness—farmers and citizens must see value in preserving land, not just in selling it.

Let Kashmir not be remembered as a land that once fed millions and then lost its soil to cement. Agriculture is not just an economic sector—it is our past, present, and if protected, our future.