JK administration sets up hi-tech nurseries in Rajouri district to give boost to horticulture sector

Rajouri (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], May 30 (ANI): The Horticulture department has set up high-tech nurseries in different areas of the Rajouri district, namely Saaj, Siot, Budhal and Rajouri to give a boost to the horticulture sector.
Various types of fruits and vegetable crops are being raised in these nurseries, which will further be provided to growers for cultivation.

Riaz Ahmed, one of the Staff members at Saaj Nursery said, "Different types of seedlings are being raised at this nursery and the demand for various seedlings like that of pecan nut, walnut, apricot or plum is also good here. Our officers are busy in the preparation of seedlings which will then be provided to orchardists."
"Among all the Hi-tech nurseries in the district, our Saaj nursery has the highest demand and here every type of plant is available," he added.
Hi-tech nurseries can play an important role in producing quality planting material for fruits and vegetables.

Moreover, as the plants are grown in partially controlled conditions and are prepared with recent scientific propagation techniques, they have much better productivity.
All the hi-tech nurseries in Rajouri are majorly using the Grafting technique to grow several plants. In this technique, parts of two or more plants are joined so that they appear to grow as a single plant. It increases nutrient uptake and utilization efficiency in a number of plant species.
While talking to ANI, Madan Lal, the Chief Horticulture Officer of Rajouri said, "At present, in Saaj and Rajouri nursery, we have prepared around 1,60,000 seedlings, and in many of them grafting technique has been used which has proved a success. In the next season, we will distribute these grafted seedlings to the orchardists and will also bring them under some project so that in the coming time, their income increases."

"As there is a great demand for grafted walnut seedlings in Rajouri, we have grafted around 18,000 walnuts in Saaj nursery, 7,000 in Siot, 4,000 in Budhal and 1,000 in Rajouri nursery, so that in the coming time, we can supply them to people for plantation other purposes," he added.
Shafqat Hussain Khan, the District Horticulture Officer of Rajouri said, "It is our Prime Minister's dream to double the income of all farmers and if the speed of progress remains the same then the income of farmers might get tripled rather than getting doubled."
Horticulture being the core sector of agriculture contributes over 8 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Jammu and Kashmir besides generating employment avenues for the youth.
According to public authority figures, a total of 7.5 lakh families consisting of around 35 lakh souls are associated with this sector.
Thus to give a boost to the Horticulture sector, several reforms have been brought by the authorities in Jammu and Kashmir and they are yielding encouraging results turning several job seekers into job givers. (ANI)