Amidst the ongoing countrywide agitation of farmers, a delegation of farmers, fruit growers, businessmen and officials of Jammu and Kashmir has reached Dubai to tap the Gulf market for the Kashmiri apple and other horticulture produce.

The team is participating in the 4-days UAE-India Food Security Summit 2020 that began on 7 December.

Naveen Choudhary, Principal Secretary, Agriculture and Farmer’s Welfare is leading the delegation to the event, which will be attended by prominent businessmen, investors and representatives of public sector organisations, business enterprises and institutions from both India and the UAE.

Organised by the Consulate General of India in Dubai in association with the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and Invest India, the event brings several key stakeholders from both the countries on one platform to share their experiences, deliberate on solutions and explore ways to further increase the collaboration in the food security sector, said an official spokesman.

The J&K official delegation also comprises of Director Horticulture, Kashmir, Aijaz Ahmad Bhat, Agriculture Economist, Directorate of Agriculture Production and Farmer’s Welfare, Jammu, K K Sharma and Additional Secretary Horticulture Department, Jahangir Hashmi besides progressive growers and traders of apple and food industry.

The summit will see discussions and presentations on food processing, equipment and technology, dairy product development and infrastructure including development of logistics and integrated cold chains, regulatory requirements for imports, investments into food parks, agro-processing clusters, infrastructure development for fishing harbours and showcase milestones by Indian companies in aquaculture, hydroponics, saline irrigation and agritech-vertical farming besides business to business, Government to business, Government to Government meetings and exchange of some MOUs with various multi-national companies of UAE, fruit show and B2B meetings are also expected during the event.

Also, it is conveyed during the Summit that the Council office of India will arrange B2B, G2B and G2G meetings besides more trade agreements between two partner countries are also expected.

There will be every support from UAE and India to promote Jammu and Kashmir Horticulture and connected sectors, observed the event.
Navin Choudhary also enumerated the list of potential buyers which inter alia included Lulu Supermarkets, Choitram Supermarkets, Carrefour Supermarkets, Taj Hotels and Catering Dubai, Al Adil Supermarkets, Waitrose Supermarkets and Emirates airline Catering Services. Besides, the delegation elucidated several health benefits of Kashmiri apple, pear, walnut, Kashmiri organic almonds by elaborately explaining its nutritional value of minerals and vitamins besides highlighting their disease fighting factors.