Jammu: On the occasion of Kissan Divas, Jammu and Kashmir government on Monday launched an SMS portal mobile service for farmers which will provide necessary time specific and region specific information.
Minister for Agriculture, Ghulam Hassan Mir, along with Minister of State for Agriculture, Nazir Ahmed Gurezi, today launched the Kissan SMS portal mobile service for farmers of Jammu region, officials said.
The service has been started in three languages of English, Hindi and Urdu, they added.
The SMS Portal created by the Directorate of Agriculture, Jammu will provide necessary time specific and region specific information to the farmers.
Considering availability of large number of mobile connections in the rural areas, Kissan SMS portal is likely to be very useful to farmers and other stakeholders as timely and relevant information will be provided to them, they said.
On the occasion, Mir said that fulfilling the information and technology needs of nearly 12 lakh farming families in the state has always been a challenge to the extension system.
He said extensive use of Information and Communication technology along with judicious mix of physical outreach, learning among farmers, group approach and PPP seems to be the right way of going about it.
Mir said that till now the farmers were being advised through print and electronic media and Kissan melas and awareness camps, adding that now they will also get any kind of information related to the agriculture activities through SMS service.
He hoped that farmers will take maximum benefits of this SMS service.
After launching the SMS Portal, Gurezi appreciated the efforts of agriculture department and advised the officers to ensure that more and more farmers especially from far flung and remote areas are connected with the SMS Portal.
