Srinagar: Kashmir Farmers say they are yet to receive the seeds of Rabi crops from the government Department of Agriculture, Kashmir, at the time when weather extremes have been hitting Kashmir’s agricultural sector for the past many years.
Haji Ghulam Ahmad Dar, 70-years-old Farmer from Chatterhama Hazratbal of Harwan Srinagar said the Kashmir region is already reeling under a definite climate change, last year, we received snowfall in November only and when the snow and rains fall earlier, the seed does not mature and burns in the soil.
“Resulting in the innumerable loss, even the agriculture department knew this but despite that, the seed procurement remains frequently delayed,” he said.
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Another Farmer, Abdul Salam from Harwan said when oilseeds are sown immediately after harvesting the rice paddy fields; the soil doesn’t need much ploughing which can save our time and energy.
An official working in the Agriculture Department told The Himalayan Post during this time, we provide three major crops to the farmers which are oilseeds, peas and grass fodder but not a single gram of seeds have reached us.
“Instead of Rabi Crops, Khareef crops are being procured, e.g. the department recently procured seeds of exotic vegetables broccoli and lettuce in September which should be given in August. If we give those seeds to the farmer, they will not mature. The department now decided to store those seeds on their own until the Kharif season comes,” he said.
“By this time, seeds should have been present in our stores, because the whole process is time-consuming. When would the seeds reach us, when will they go for an allotment," he asked.
"Then we call farmers from different corners of Kashmir and the farmer also has to prepare land for sowing. We are already running very late,” he added.
However, Director Agriculture Mohammad Iqbal Chaudry said the rabi season starts from October and we will provide the seeds from 15th Oct.
“That will not be delayed for sure,” he added.
