Early Times Report
Jammu, March 10:Commercial cultivation of flowers is gradually picking up in Jammu and Kashmir as around 100 women have come forward to set up their own flower farms following a drive by the state Floriculture Department to encourage them, it was stated by the Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Horticulture and Floriculture Production Mrs. Sonali Kumar at a seminar-cum-awareness programme organized by J&K Flower Grower Association (JKFGA) in collaboration with National Horticulture Board here this morning.
Speaking on the occasion, Mrs. Kumar said that the department is conducting training workshops for the women to help them for setting up of income generating farm by growing floriculture. At present, about 300 hectares of land in the state is under cultivation of different varieties of flowers, particularly marigold, jasmine, aster, rose, chrysanthemum and tuberose. She said that the Government has chalked out other plans to give an impetus to the floriculture production. She said that in future a suitable budget would be earmarked for promoting and developing floriculture sector in the state and modern facilities would be in place to provide a single platform for the farmers to market the flowers.
Addressing the farmers, Director, Floriculture, K K Sharma said the department had received many requests from people, including women, seeking permission to set up flower farms. He said that once they are involved the trade, they will also contribute towards the export of different varieties of flowers. He said that training camps are underway at Nagrota, Bhaderwah, Jammu, Kathua, Samba, R S Pura and others areas in the region.
In his address, President JKFGA Tejinder Singh said that our association is making sustainable efforts for encouraging women as well as the unemployed youth to take up flower cultivation but we need state-of-the-art infrastructure to compete with other parts of the country. He said that the state still cannot boast of cold storage facilities, refrigeration vans and green houses for flowers. Besides, the cultivation process is still archaic, making it difficult for cultivators to make forays in the international market. Farmers in border areas of Jammu and Kashmir are shifting from traditional crops to cultivation of flowers, as floriculture is proving more lucrative.
Among others, Director Horticulture, Jammu, J. L. Sharma, Sr. Scientist SKUAST, Dr. R. K. Gupta, Universal Floritech, Chandigarh, Gurpreet Singh Kang, President FGAI, K. Natrajan, General Secretary, JKFGA, Mrs. Nusarat Jahan Ara and farmers from various villages of the Jammu division.
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