Agricultural Exhibition in Muzaffarabad

Muzaffarabad ( AJ & K): An agricultural exhibition was organized here under the auspices of the department of agriculture, Muzaffarabad.

The stalls of locally produced fruit, vegetables, and agricultural products were set up by local farmers and various units of the agriculture department. 

The landowners were given awareness and demonstration about agricultural farming, agro-medicines, and machinery.

Director of agriculture Khawaja Masood Iqbal gave a briefing to Minister of Agriculture Sardar Mir Akbar Khan about locally produced olive products. The minister of agriculture praised the efforts of the departments and said that connecting with the land is the need of the time.

He further said that agriculture is the biggest sector affecting the national economy, and if our needs are met at the local level, peoples’ economic condition will improve and the revenue of the state will also increase.

Director Research Khawaja Masood Iqbal,, Muzaffarabad

“We can complete the production of vegetables and meat at the local level, and in this regard, the department of agriculture will continue its efforts”. He said that women have an important role in kitchen gardening.

Speaking at the event, Secretary Agriculture and Livestock Sardar Javed Ayub said that Azad Kashmir is the watershed of the entire country and we are trying to make the Azad region a food basket for Pakistan.

Our mission is that every region should be able to meet the local demand. He congratulated the organizers for organizing the exhibition. The agriculture minister also gave shields to those who won prominent positions in the stalls. The farmers of Muzaffarabad, Jhelum Valley, and Neelam district had prepared stalls of fresh crops, fruits, and vegetables.

The exhibition was inaugurated by Minister of Agriculture Sardar Mir Akbar Khan. While the secretary of agriculture Sardar Javed Ayub, Islamic Relief Representative Zeeshan Maqbool, Vice President National Bank of Pakistan Naheed Yusuf, Director Agriculture Sardar Zareen Khan, and others also addressed the opening ceremony.

Director General Agriculture Tariq Mehmood Bande and Director General ASMA Raja Gulzar also addressed the opening ceremony.

Director Research Khawaja Masood Iqbal, Deputy Director Agriculture Muzaffarabad Amina Rafi, and others were also present on this occasion.

Bilateral Issue between India and Pakistan mindlessly drilled into international politics.

London: The bilateral issue between India and Pakistan has been so mindlessly drilled into international politics that Boris even used it in response to question on farmer protest. This was stated on Twitter by a prominent Kashmiri human rights advocate Mirza Saaib Beg here on Wednesday. Mirza was referring to British PM Boris as he is being criticised over his response to a question regarding the ongoing farmers’ protest in India.

During the Prime Minister’s Questions in the UK Parliament, Britain’s first turban-wearing Sikh MP, Tanmanjeet Sindh Dhesi, had asked Johnson to show solidarity with the tens of thousands of farmers in India protesting against the Narendra Modi government’s anti-farmer bills.

The Labour MP said many of his constituents, especially those hailing from Punjab and other parts of India, had been horrified to see footage of water cannons, tear gas, and brute force being used against peacefully protesting farmers.

“It was heart-warming to see farmers feeding the forces who had been ordered to beat or suppress them. What indomitable spirit. It takes a special kind of people to do that,” he commented.

The Indian government’s offer to amend three laws in a set of new agricultural rules that has led to weeks of protests was rejected by farmers on Wednesday, who vowed to intensify demonstrations.

The farmers in India are seeking the withdrawal of the laws which they say would harm their economic interests while helping big food retailers. Farmers have been demonstrating since late last month over reforms enacted in September that loosened rules around the sale, pricing and storage of farm produce, that had protected farmers from an unfettered free market for decades.

“The farmers have rejected the government’s proposals,” Darshan Pal, president of Krantikari Kisan Union, told reporters after the meeting of over 30 farmers’ unions. Expressing their anger towards some large domestic corporations and retailers, including Reliance Industries and Adani Enterprises, farmer leaders said they would boycott the products and services of these companies. The majority of farmers believes the news laws could pave the way for some of India’s leading corporations to enter the Indian agriculture trade.

Unhappy with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s liberalisation, farmers have set up protest camps and blocked roads surrounding the capital New Delhi, and on Tuesday mounted a nationwide strike. Farmer leaders want the government to retain mandatory government purchases, and said buyers at private markets should pay the same tax as at state-run markets.

The protests, led by influential farming groups from the grain-producing states of Haryana and Punjab, pose a major challenge to Modi as he seeks to reform the vast agriculture sector, which makes up nearly 15% of India’s $2.9 trillion economy and employs around half of its 1.3 billion people.

Opposition parties criticised the reforms, saying they would benefit big business and be disastrous for the rural economy, and met President Ram Nath Kovind, the country’s ceremonial head of state, urging him to ask the government to accept farmers’ demands.

Social media has fanned sympathy for the farmers’ cause among the Indian diaspora abroad. During recent days, thousands of people have protested in support of the farmers outside the Indian embassy in central London.

CABI trains AJK employees in a plant clinic

CABI-an international development organisation- conducted 4-day training in a plant clinic for the officials of Azad Jammu and Kashmir agriculture department.  Among others Khawaja Masood Iqbal Fruit and Vegetable Specialist, Zaffar Jahangir Entomlogist, Raja Zaheer Iqbal Project Director Agri Business and Amna Rafi Deputy Director were prominent attendees of the AJK Agriculture department who were nominated to participate in the training course.

CABI is an international, inter-governmental, not-for-profit organization that improves people’s lives worldwide by providing information and applying scientific expertise to solve problems in agriculture and the environment. CABI’s approach involves putting information, skills and tools into people’s hands.

CABI’s 50 member countries guide and influence our work which is delivered by scientific staff based in our global network of centres. CABI’s centre in Pakistan was established in 1957 and helps small scale farmers in the region to increase yields, improve the quality of crops and access markets, in a sustainable, environmentally-sensitive way.

The centre’s horticultural expertise helps local smallholder farmers improve their production and profitability by providing them with access to better quality seeds, and encouraging farmers to adopt good, sustainable soil and production practices. Integrated crop management is encouraged, including managing agricultural pests and diseases through safe biological means. Regional plant clinics give farmers the information they need to lose less of their crops to pests and diseases. The centre also helps farmers overcome barriers to getting their crops to market.

CABI conducts field research in Pakistan

Post-disaster agricultural support is provided by the centre.  Individuals and groups are encouraged to plan for, and thus minimise the impact of such disasters. The centre works with a large number of donors and organizations in order to facilitate its work, including national and regional governments, private sector bodies, foundations, NGOs, and other experts in the field.