After apple, govt moves to procure saffron, peach, walnut from Valley

New Delhi, November 12

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman today urged the National Bank for Rural and Agricultural Development (NABARD) to ensure fair remunerative price for the crops of farmers in Jammu & Kashmir.

Speaking at a conference on rural and agriculture finance, Sitharaman said she had asked NABARD Chairman HS Bhanwala to accompany her to J&K to ensure that farmers got fair value for cash crops such as apples, saffron, peaches and walnuts as also to ensure that the produce was marketed all over the country. “I have requested the NABARD Chairman to visit J&K with me before the crop season starts. We are also looking at Ladakh as a huge source of solar energy,” she observed.

After the reorganisation of J&K, New Delhi had on September 5 announced that for the first time, NAFED will be involved in procuring apples from the Valley with a target of 12 lakh metric tonne, of the total estimated production of 19 lakh tonne, at a cost of about Rs 5,000 crore.

NABARD has had a long involvement with J&K that has gone beyond ensuring remunerative prices for cash crops. It has also worked for  the construction of primary schools and health centres. Sitharaman called for replacement of agricultural produce marketing committee (APMC) with National Agriculture Market (e-NAM). — TNS