Centre ropes in NABARD to procure farm produce; chairman to visit J&K

FM assures fair price for J&K farmers on apples

JAMMU: To ensure better price to the farmers of newly created union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said the government will seek help of NABARD in procuring farm produce like saffron, peaches and walnuts from them.
Sitharaman also urged the agricultural refinance agency to ensure fair price for the farmers on their apples as well as their availability across the country.
Also, she said, the government wants to promote solar energy generation in the union territory (UT) of Ladakh, which is also carved out of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The government has recently procured apples from the farmers of UT of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) through National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED).
Sitharaman asked NABARD chairman H S Bhanwala to visit Jammu & Kashmir and ensure that farmers there get fair value for premium crops such as apples, saffron, peaches and walnuts grown in the Valley and that the farm produce from the region reaches all parts of the country.
"I have requested NABARD (National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development) chairman (Harsh Kumar Bhanwala) to visit Jammu & Kashmir with me before the crop season starts. We are also looking at Ladakh as a huge source of solar energy," the minister said.
"Now I'm ensuring that I will take the chairman of NABARD to J&K even if it's winter now because I want ... the next crop of saffron, peaches and walnuts and other agri produce of J&K to get that kind of support which through NABARD the central government can extend to Jammu and Kashmir," she said at an event organised by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) in New Delhi.
NABARD Chairman Harsh Kumar Bhanwala said after the event, "Whatever responsibility is given by the government, we will do it."
NABARD will speak to farmers of Jammu and Kashmir and understand their issues, he said, adding that efforts will be made to provide help farmers of saffron, peaches and walnuts.
“Both long-term credit and short-term credit issues will also be looked at,” he added.
Farm produce from the union territory of J&K reaching different parts of India is in line with the government's policy to integrate the region with the rest of the country.
Sitharaman also said the government recently used NAFED to procure apples from J&K so that there is no single farmer left with his unsold apples.