Srinagar, Apr 13: Jammu and Kashmir government has decided to introduce a crop insurance scheme this year for the benefit of farmers, state's agriculture minister Abdul Aziz Zargar said today. The insurance scheme would be the first of its kind in the state, he told a gathering of fruit growers and traders of baramulla district at Sopore, 55 kms from here. The minister said efforts were also underway to provide crop security to fruit growers against natural calamities.
The government has also decided to set up irrigation infrastructure in the form of check dams and tube wells in drought prone areas by utilizing funds available under the drought relief package, Zargar said. He said a market intervention scheme, on the pattern of Himachal Pradesh, would also be launched in the state to provide support price to fruit growers on low grade fruits and ensure export of only a grade fruits.
Zargar sanctioned an additional allocation of Rs 30 lakh for cooperative bank, Sopore, for providing better lending facilities to the fruit growers and said Jammu and Kashmir Bank and Nabard would also be approached to improve credit ratio to fruit growers. The minister said steps had been taken to check sale and stocking of spurious fertilizers and pesticides in the market and the law enforcement wing has been strengthened for the purpose.
Bureau Report