Apples worth Rs 70.45 crore procured directly from Kashmiri farmers till Jan, 2020: J-K govt

Continuing with its bid to boost the agriculture sector in Kashmir, the National Agriculture Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) has procured apples worth Rs 70.45 crore directly from the growers in the Valley till January 2020, the Jammu and Kashmir government said in a statement.

"As reported by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir, the agriculture operations are going on smoothly in the valley. During Financial Year 2019-20 (up to January 2020), 18.34 lakh MTs of fresh fruit (apples) have been dispatched. In the horticulture sector, under the Market Intervention Schemes (MIS) launched by the Government of India in September 2019, for the first time, 15769.38 MTs of apples valued at Rs. 70.45 crores have been procured up to January 28, 2020, directly from the growers in Kashmir valley through NAFED," a release on Tuesday read.

The release further added that the scheme for the benefit of the farmers has been extended up to March 31, 2020.

The export of handicrafts from the region has been Rs 688.26 crore during the first three quarters of the FY 2019-20, according to the release.

Additionally, "sericulture sector recorded production of 813 MTs of silk cocoon in the year 2019" and various promotional campaigns to boost tourism have also been launched.

"The Government of India is fully committed to the overall development of the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir and Union Territory of Ladakh. Under the Prime Minister's Development Package-2015 of Rs. 80,068 crores, major development projects in Road, Power, Health, Tourism, Agriculture, Horticulture, Skill Development Sectors etc. are already under various stages of implementation," the release added.

The government is also implementing several individual beneficiary centric schemes towards the development of the region after the abrogation of Article 370 and 35A last year.