New Delhi (NVI): In the backdrop of early snowfall damaging an estimated 800 hectares of saffron crop fields in Kashmir, the government has swung into action with NABARD been directed to take immediate and necessary steps to extend support to the affected farmers in the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has directed NABARD to take up immediate and necessary steps to extend support to the farmers in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh so that the next crop of saffron, peaches, walnuts and other agriculture produce in the state is procured at the right time, an official statement said.
“I have requested Chairman of NABARD to visit J&K, so that NABARD can support the farmers there,” Sitharaman informed while speaking at the 6th World Congress on Rural and Agriculture Finance here on Tuesday. The Congress has been jointly organised by National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) and Asia – Pacific Rural Agricultural and Credit Association (APRACA) here today.
Meanwhile, inter-departmental teams constituted for the purpose, had recently assessed damages to more than 800 hectares of saffron crop. The saffron fields in Pantha Chowk tehsil of the district suffered major losses this year with only one against four harvests seen before snowfall.
Last week, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srinagar Dr Shahid Iqbal Choudhary had made a first-hand assessment of damages caused to saffron crops due to snowfall. The DC had said that teams comprising officers from concerned departments including those from the revenue, horticulture, agriculture and rural development were estimating the damages.
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