To strengthen the economy of Uttarakhand, hill agriculture must be focused upon. There is a vast potential for Agri-tourism in Uttarakhand if medicinal and aromatic plants are grown on cluster basis. Himalayan Hills are known for medicinal and aromatic plants and cultivation of these crops on large scale by a group of farmers in a cluster can turn out to be a boon for them and the Uttarakhand State.
The Governor of Uttarakhand Krishan Kant Paul made these observations while addressing the 31st convocation of GB Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, at Pantnagar on Thursday. He added that Agri-tourism is another untapped potential area for boosting the economy of the State.
Congratulating the recipients of the degrees, the Governor said that the university has always provided excellent services to the nation and played an important role in making the country self-dependent in food security. “The university now needs to ensure nutritional security of the country. A food sovereign nation is a free nation in the true sense of the word,” he said.
The Governor said that like in most of India, agriculture is one of the most significant sectors of the economy in Uttarakhand. He said that the major concern is the low productivity of crops in hills and the farmers face problems of storage, supply chain, minimum support price and lack of on farm processing facilities.
“The low yield of agricultural crops, fodder, forest produce, livestock coupled with shortage of feed and fodder, sluggish growth rates are the critical factors of agrarian hill economy adversely affecting household food security. The university must look into these aspects,’’ he quipped.
The Governor suggested the university should work on mapping of fruits, vegetables, flowers and other perishable agri-commodities growing in clusters to enable the processing units to ensure good quality raw material, reduce procurement cost and increase the profitability in long run on sustainable basis. Exploration, utilisation and commercialisation of underutilised indigenous fruit, flower and vegetable crops would help greatly.
The Governor asked the scientists of the university to work upon a strategy to find an alternative to the stubble burning of crops by farmers which is causing a lot of air pollution.
The Agriculture Minister, Subodh Uniyal said that the state government was going to bring out an act for organic farming so that farmers could get better returns for various products. He suggested that the university should set up a centre for research and development where aspects like organic farming, value enhancement for products for farmers could be researched upon.
The vice-chancellor (VC) of the University, AK Mishra made a presentation of the teaching, research and communication activities of the university over the last one year.
The Governor who also is the Chancellor of the university conferred degrees to 1261 scholars on the occasion. Kavita Bisht received Chancellors’ Gold Medal on the occasion.