(Any initiative in reviving
and expanding the agricultural base of Kashmir which has been the backbone of
our economy is most welcome)
A columnist friend Arjimand Hussain Talib has recently
launched Ziraat Times both a print publication and an online portal to fully
revive and promote the dwindling agricultural economy of the State. The focus
of the bi-lingual print publication (English and Urdu) is to act as an
information catalyst to promote sustainable growth in horticulture,
agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries, forestry, sericulture, floriculture
and other sectors of J & K’s agro-economy. The special focus is to be on
food safety and climate-change resilience. While describing reasons for
focusing on agriculture, it is mentioned that, “In 2015-16, agriculture sector
contributed Rs 13,893 crore, or 15.89%, to Jammu & Kashmir's Gross State
Domestic Product (GSDP). While in percentage terms agriculture's
contribution to the GSDP has been reducing, it is not unusual. It is a global
trend for agriculture percentage in GDPs to decline as the scale of
manufacturing and services grow. However, we believe J&K still has
immense potential in enhancing agricultural productivity”.
There are no two opinions that the agriculture has
always been the real backbone of Kashmiris economy for centuries. Even at
present the 80% of the population consists of cultivators. Unfortunately, over
the years instead of progressing this sector has been rather dwindling and we
are at a juncture when we depend on imports for most of our agriculture based
products! While on one hand most of the agricultural products and the people
engaged in producing these have been declining over a period of time, on the
other the only thing which has grown geometrically are the government
employees! A sizeable chunk of the State budget goes into the salaries of these
employees. Unfortunately, over a period of time we have depleted slowly the
dignity of manual labour and created a mind-set of white collar jobs among our
youth. According to some estimates almost a million youth are educated but
unemployed. Most are waiting for the white-collar government jobs even at the
lowest level. This is the greatest disservice that has been done by our rulers
for last 70 years or so! The culture of subsidy of fifties was its beginning! The
other disservice we have done to our beautiful and naturally resourceful land
has been to convert our rich cultivable land into plots to construct houses,
shopping complexes and colonies.
Kashmir’s greatest resource is water which could be
used to generate power for our own use and sale to our neighbours.
Unfortunately, this resource has been mortgaged by our so called leaders and there
is no chance of retrieving it. The only way forward is to give full throttle to
agriculture and all other related activities. Not only can we be
self-sufficient in all these products but we could even export some of these.
The sector could also provide jobs to the youth once they are retrieved from
the white collar syndrome. Almost half a million outsiders are working in
Kashmir in both skilled and unskilled jobs making us comfort loving and lazy.
According to some estimates almost Rs. 40 crores go out of Kashmir everyday as
the wages of this skilled and non-skilled labour force! Incidentally, the State
Government has announced proposals for regularisation of 60,000 casual
employees. One would not question the advisability of the step as by all canons
of justice people having been kept hanging as casual for more than 20 years
need to be regularised. The question is why the governments have been taking
this easy route of casual employees continuously? Simply, vote bank politics detrimental
to the economic well-being of the state. The easiest way is to create armies of
slaves and keep them on the dole! They would be the future vote-bank!
The possibilities in agriculture and related
activities are immense. One is reminded of the first tenure of Mufti Sayed
during which he visited Dubai and invited some experts from the largest
consortium of companies dealing in various food products. A team consisting of
some specialists in various agriculture based fields visited the state. They
were taken to a number of places including Kokarnag and Laribal Trout farms,
Botanical Garden and Floriculture seed farm and Agriculture University in
Shalimar. On trout they offered to pick up as much as Kashmir could give! They
had been importing trout of much lower quality from Chile. In the agriculture
university they were surprised to see some Kiwi Fruit trees and they could not
believe that it could grow here! They informed that Dubai was re-exporting Kiwi
to India after importing it from New Zealand and Italy. One of the floriculture
experts said that they could take any quantity of cut flowers from here. In
fact, he remarked that the amount of lavender growing wild in Kashmir could
enable setting up of a dozen perfumeries! Unfortunately, all the plans made
with Mufti Sahib after their meetings with him died along with his departure
from the Government and he could not get a chance to revive these during his
second tenure which he may have definitely liked to do!
Incidentally, Kiwi is now grown in Kashmir. Cut
flowers are also being sent to different places by some private entrepreneurs.
However, the State Government is spending crores on a short time show piece
Tulip Garden which money could be utilised to give a boost to cut flower
production by private entrepreneurs! Unfortunately, we are fonder of show biz
than any productive and gainful work! In these circumstances, any initiative to
revive and strengthen Kashmir’s agricultural base is more than welcome. It
should not only receive approval from the Civil Society and the Government but
total and unconditional support if we want Kashmir to be self-sufficient and
economically strong!
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