HADP boosts horticulture in J&K’s Poonch, doubling farmers’ income

Poonch, June 3 In a significant step towards promoting horticulture and doubling farmers’ income, Jammu and Kashmir's Horticulture Department has established a high-tech poly greenhouse nursery at its district headquarters in Poonch under the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP). The initiative supports Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of uplifting the agricultural sector.

The new facility allows for year-round cultivation of fruit plants, regardless of seasonal changes. District Horticulture Officer Sanjeev Kumar said that the department previously relied on seeds to grow plants, which typically took seven years to bear fruit. However, with the introduction of grafting techniques in the poly greenhouse, fruit plants will begin producing in just three years.

Speaking to IANS, Sanjeev Kumar highlighted the broader goals of HADP, which has been active in J&K for the past two years.

"There are 29 projects under HADP, inaugurated by PM Modi. Our focus is horticulture, specifically under projects 9, 15, and 21. We want people to grow their own plants, reduce dependence on external sources, and become self-reliant," he stated.

"We also plan to provide similar high-tech poly greenhouse nurseries to farmers on a subsidy basis, helping them boost productivity and income," Sanjeev Kumar said.

He added that Poonch is uniquely suited for Pecan nut cultivation, a crop grown exclusively in this region of the Union Territory.

"We also cultivate apples. This poly house will support and expand our horticulture practices significantly," Sanjeev Kumar told IANS.

HADP, spearheaded by the Agriculture Production Department of J&K, comprises 29 comprehensive projects across agriculture, including horticulture, crop production, and livestock. Through 75 integrated schemes, the programme aims to ensure sustainability, self-sufficiency, and commercial viability in the region’s agrarian economy.

Horticulture is the science and art of the development, sustainable production, marketing and use of high-value, intensively cultivated food and ornamental plants.

Horticultural plants are grown for a particular purpose, including for food, medicine, as ornamentals, for aromatic properties, or in the wine industry. As a result, this leads to various fields within horticulture, such as floriculture, viticulture, olericulture, arboriculture, pomology, and oenology, which are the study, cultivation, and marketing of flowers, grapes, vegetables, trees, fruits, and wine, respectively. Each area of science involves the landscaping of crop fields, which adds to the aesthetics, but more importantly, the required growth guidelines are followed in order to maximise the production of the respective plants for their specified use in these industries.

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