Jammu : Shere-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences & Technology of Jammu is organizing two days Innovative Farmers Conference on “Farmer Led Innovations for Enhancing Farm Income” to harness first-hand experiences of innovative farmers, at Main Campus, Chatha from February 23-24, 2021. Prof. J.P. Sharma, Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-Jammu and Chief Patron of the conference hopes that the two days conference will address the emerging challenges of agriculture like declining farm size, deterioration of soil health, groundwater depletion, increase in cost of production, labour scarcity and climatic shocks etc, which is essential for efficient, sustainable and inclusive development of agriculture and to realize Prime Ministers’ vision of doubling farmers’ income.
Prof. Sharma further pointed out that in recent years, a number of farmers and other stakeholders interested in agriculture have come out with location-specific and field tested innovations for their technical and economic feasibility. These innovations are of greater importance to farming communities, especially smallholder farmers who are often unable to afford costlier technologies because of the lack of access to finances and information. These innovators can be an effective and reliable source of information and also inputs for other farmers in the vicinity. There are several success stories of innovative farmers who have achieved more than double income compared to other farmers in similar resource situations. These farmers proved that income can be enhanced manifold by innovations in their existing farming situation.
The conference will provide a platform to farmers for sharing the innovative models and success stories. The vision of the Hon’ble Vice-Chancellor is to facilitate the exchange of ideas and experiences among participating farmers and learning from each other. The conference will provide a rare opportunity for farmers to know the technical feedback of innovations for their horizontal expansion in similar resource situations.
Further, farmer innovators who will take part in the conference will get public recognition as a crucial player in the agricultural research and development system. Moreover Five Padma Shri awardee farmers will share their experience with the farmers of Jammu region and it will boost the self-confidence of progressive farmers for developing innovative models. The Farm University is trying to boost the self-confidence of progressive farmers for developing innovative models so that they will act as a motivating force for other farmers to achieve higher farm income. Based on the deliberations in the conference, strategies will be developed for outscaling and upscaling of farmer led innovations which will lead to substantial increase in the income of the farmers. More than 120 awardee farmers from Jammu &Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana are participating in the said conference. The two days conference will comprise of four sessions and during each session innovative farmers will deliberate about his/her achievements. Exhibitions and stalls depicting various technologies of University will also be laid during the conference. Giving detail of the conference, Dr. S.K. Gupta, Director Extension and and Dr. Jag Paul Sharma, Director Research Co-Chairs of the conference, said that the primary objectives of the two days conference is to facilitate knowledge sharing among innovative farmers for faster and comprehensive replication of innovations in similar agro-ecological situations and to recognize the contribution of innovative and awardee farmers for motivating other farmers and stakeholders in agriculture and allied sectors. This conference will give impetus to the research and extension programmes of the farm universities for meeting out the expectations of farmers and to suggest suitable measures to policy planners for achieving faster growth in agriculture along with sustainable income.
