Over Rs 11,056-cr action plan for 2016-17 approved for agriculture sector in Kashmir

Srinagar, Jan 18: An annual plan amounting Rs 11,056.35-crore has been approved under various schemes for agriculture sector for the year 2016-17 in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said here today. They said that the net sown area in Kashmir Division is 3.11 lakh hectares (Ha) which include 1.90 lakh hectares of irrigated land, and 1.18 lakh hectares of un-irrigated land, while the number of operational holdings include 6.28 lakh, with an average holding size of 0.53 hectares. They said various schemes, including Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana, National Mission on Saffron, Mission for Integrated Development of Horticulture, National Mission on Oilseed & Oilpalm, National Food Security Mission, National Mission on Agriculture Extension & Technology, and National Mission for Sustainable Agriculture, were being implemented by the Department, with the approved Action Plan 2016-17 involving a total of Rs 11056.35-crore. Officials said that the area under different crops in the Kashmir Division during Kharif include 141.34 Ha (53 per cent) under Paddy, 80.74 Ha (30 per cent) under Maize, 21.79 hectares (8 per cent) under Vegetables, 19.88 hectares (7 percent) under Pulses and 3.67 hectares (1 percent) under saffron. The area under different crops in the Division during Rabi include 81.11 hectares (59 percent) under Oilseed, 29.37 hectares (21 percent) under Fodder, 11.56 hectares (8 percent) under Pulses, 11.14 hectares (8 percent) under Vegetables and 4.66 hectares (3 percent) under Wheat. Besides, the productions during Kharif included 848.04 Metric Tons (MT) of Paddy, 599.09 MT of Vegetables, 161.48 MT of Maize and 19.67 MT of Pulses, the productions during Rabi include 1020.64 MT of Fodder, 296.55 MT of Vegetables, 81.11 MT of Oilseed, 13.19 MT of Pulses and 8.36 MT of Wheat, it was further given out. They said that while the current productivity for Rice, Maize, Wheat and Pulses include 63.40 tonnes per hectare (T/Ha), 20.00 T/Ha, 18.08 T/Ha and 9.89 T/Ha respectively, the food grain production in relation to population growth in the Division is in the deficit of about 25 per cent, involving production of about 1090 MT against the requirement of 1343 MT.