Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Sunday urged the youth to join the Agri Start-up ecosystem so that they can contribute to making value addition to the economy and help in realising the national goal of making India a number one economy in the next 25 years of ‘Amrit Kaal’.

The Minister said that Jammu and Kashmir is emerging as an Agri StartUp hub. He was speaking in a conference of farmers in the border area of Hiranagar of Jammu.

He said: “The Republic Day tableau on 26 January depicting lavender farms of Bhaderwah is a testimony of Bhaderwah and J&K being nationally hailed as the birthplace of “Purple Revolution” which is now being emulated in other Himalayan States.

He said the foundation of this Agri StartUp hub has been laid in the picturesque Bhaderwah town of district Doda where cultivation of lavender has been taken up on a large scale.

He recalled that PM Narendra Modi had in detail explained this success story in farming from district Doda in his “Mann Ki Baat” broadcast and told the listeners about the small town of Bhaderwah where this experiment had been carried out as part of the Aroma Mission by the Ministry of Science & Technology.
This endeavour provides India an alternate source to propel its economy, Dr Jitendra Singh stated.

Over 3000 flourishing lavender entrepreneurs from Bhaderwah have shown the youth of India a new and lucrative avenue of StartUp through agriculture which is an exclusive domain of this country and will contribute value addition to India’s future economic growth and realisation of PM Narendra Modi’s vision of “Vikriti Bharat” by 2047, he said.

Addressing “Kisan Sammelan”, the Union Minister expressed delight at the recent depiction of lavender farms of Bhaderwah through a tableau on the occasion of the Republic Day.

Counting it as a success story, Dr Jitendra Singh said that drawing inspiration from the Aroma Mission, the States of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Nagaland have now started cultivation of lavender.

The number of start-ups has now gone past 1.25 lakh from a mere 350 existing before Modi came to power, thereby placing India at number three spot in this field in the world, Dr Jitendra Singh informed.

Calling for action, Dr Jitendra Singh said the areas which are either unexplored or under-explored hold the potential of making value addition to the economy, adding that the role of Jammu and Kashmir- pioneered purple revolution will be of critical importance to make India a developed nation by 2047.

Talking about the measures taken for the safety and security of residents of border areas in Jammu and Kashmir, especially Kathua, the Union Minister informed that bunkers have been constructed for them so that they can take shelter from firing from across the border. Earlier, these residents were left to fend for themselves. They would take shelter either in their relatives’ places or in the panchayat, he rued.

Similarly, road connectivity has been improved up to zero line on the border and 4 per cent reservation provided to border residents, Dr Jitendra Singh added.