Samba, 6 December (IANS). Farmers of Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir have left traditional farming and adopted poly house farming, which has led to significant improvement in their economic condition. As a result of this initiative of the Agriculture Department, farmers are not only getting more crops, but their income has also increased manifold.
Poly house farming is a state-of-the-art technology, in which crops are grown in a protected environment covered with plastic sheets. With this method, crops are protected from the adverse effects of external weather. Due to this, farmers can get production throughout the year.
Arjun Singh, a farmer of Swankha village of Ramgarh tehsil bordering Samba district, said that after adopting poly house farming, his income has increased significantly. Now they are cultivating vegetables and flowers throughout the year and selling them in the market at better prices.
Under this scheme, the Agriculture Department has provided 95 percent subsidy to the farmers for setting up poly houses. Apart from this, they have also been given technical information and training. Inspired by this assistance, other farmers of the district are also taking steps towards adopting this advanced technology. He has got a profit of about Rs 1.5 lakh from the vegetables grown under this. Under this, crop production is also very good.
District Agriculture Officer Madan Gopal said, “Poly house farming has not only increased the production of crops, but they are also getting better prices for their produce, which has improved their economic condition. Arjun Singh’s success has inspired other farmers of the district. have also been inspired to adopt this technology.”
He said, “In the future, this technology can bring a revolution in the agricultural sector of the district. Under this, I am very happy and thank the government. About 29 programs are being implemented by the Department of Agriculture under the Holistic Agriculture Development Program (HADP). One of these programs is for cultivation in protected polyhouses. There are about 10 polyhouses in our district.
The official further said, “Apart from this, work is going on in more than 5. By next year, we will have around 15 poly houses. Under this scheme, our objective is to make farmers agri-entrepreneurs. Farmers have to make us businessmen. The focus is on how farmer Arjun Singh has grown 40 quintals of cucumber from a small land. It is seedless. Its price is higher than that of common cucumber in the market.”
–IANS
PSM/ABM
