Summary:
The department provides Rs 13,000 subsidy per Kanal of agricultural land to the farmers to grow fruit crops.
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In Jammu and Kashmir’s Udhampur District’s Kooh Village, which has a population of over 2,100, most farmers grow traditional wheat and maize crops as the area is by and large rainfed.
Since most Kooh farmers have milch animals in their houses, they primarily use the animals’ dung as a crop booster.
A few farmers also use urea in their fields.
However, until 2020, farmers of the village would hesitate to grow unconventional crops like flowers, fruits, grasses, mushrooms and oil crops, simply because no one had ever dared to do innovations with traditional agriculture.
But it was in September 2020 that Rashpal Singh, son of Tarlok Singh of Kooh Panchayat, who owns several Kanals (1Kanal=5,445 square feet) of plain agricultural land, was told about the scope of growing organic strawberries by one Vikas Sharma of his village, who works as a technician with Jammu and Kashmir Horticulture Department.
The department provides Rs 13,000 subsidy per Kanal of agricultural land to the farmers to grow fruit crops.
Accordingly, Rashpal completed his file in all respects and applied for a subsidy.
In November 2020, Singh’s project got a sanction from the Jammu and Kashmir Government and in December last year, the Horticulture Department officials helped him plant around 22,500 strawberry runners over his 10 Marlas of agricultural land (10 Marlas=half kanal).
As per the departmental standards, some 45,000 runners are sown over one Kanal.
“Since the crop was new to our fields, I too had doubts about it giving proper dividends.
But then I took the risk because growing wheat crop on 10 Marlas of land until 2020 was paying me only Rs 1,000,” Rashpal says, adding, “Losing Rs 1,000 crop was not a big deal.”
Rashpal spent just Rs 7,000 for purchasing the mulch to cover up his strawberry crop so that it is protected from unwanted weeds, pests and insects.