Srinagar: The Dutch government on Sunday
assured Jammu and Kashmir government of full cooperation for
uplifting agriculture and allied sectors to boost the state's
economy.
During a meeting with state Agriculture Minister
Ghulam Hassan Mir in New Delhi today, Neatherlands' Deputy
Ambassador to India Jeroen Roodenburg assured Jammu and
Kashmir of providing technical support for boosting
agriculture sector, an official spokesman said here.
"The Government of Netherlands is ready to forward
technology, farm Machinery and elite planting material for
Agriculture, Horticulture, Floriculture and Dairy Farming
to Jammu and Kashmir," the spokesman quoted Roodenburg as
saying.
The Minister was invited by Netherlands government to
discuss various areas of agricultural concern.
In this connection, the agriculture counsellor of
Netherlands Henk van Duijn will be visiting Kashmir soon, the
spokesman said.
During the meeting, Mir said previously tourism was
thought to be the only thrust area for the state economy, but
Agriculture is now being given due focus as it also has
tremendous potential for employment generation.
He said the similarities in climate between European
and Jammu and Kashmir makes it possible to grow all types of
high value crops at very low cost.
In order to improve the quality and increase the
production of the saffron, government has launched Saffron
Mission in the state under which quality seeds are being
provided to the farmers and the marketing shall be done though
Spice Board of India, Mir said.
The spokesman said the agriculture counsellor to the
Netherland government assured that sufficient support for the
production of quality planting material of saffron shall be
made available by the Dutch experts.
In order to fulfil the country's demand of flowering
bulbs, the department of Agriculture is going to start a bulb
propagation unit at Model Floriculture Center Ganderbal
district of the valley and the planting material would be
imported from Holland.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, January 09, 2011, 20:43