Mehbooba for bridging lab-field gap to attain optimum results in agriculture

Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today stressed on the need to bridge the gap between research laboratories and agriculture fields to attain optimum results in the farming sector.

Addressing the sixth convocation of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology in Jammu, Mufti said agricultural in the state is comparatively better compared to other states, but there is a need to look into the reasons for the sector not performing up to the expectation.

She asked scientists and policy-planners to find why agriculture has not picked up as an enterprising sector despite several schemes and technological interventions.

Mufti called for close coordination between research labs and farming fields, where the research are implemented. She asked students to bridge the gap by bringing latest equipment and technology to fields so that the yield is improved.

"Though the sector in our state is performing considerably well as compared to other states, still we need to ponder where does it lag," Mufti said in her address.

She asked students to adopt agriculture and allied activities as an entrepreneurial sector which would provide them individual jobs and also strengthen the rural economy.

"Look at West, how cool it is to be a farmer there," she told the young agricultural graduates present at the convocation ceremony attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

"What does our state not produce? Some of the best cereals like mushkabudji and basmati rice, dry fruits like walnuts and saffron," she said.