Shadow Correspondent
BANDIPORA, JULY 14:
The Director Extension, SKUAST-Kashmir, Prof. Raihana Habib Kanth, concluded a three-day visit to Gurez and held a series of fruitful discussions with farmers, farm women and budding entrepreneurs while visiting all three regions of Gurez, including Bagtore, Gurez and Tulail.
During the extensive programme, the Front-Line Demonstrations (FLDs) and On-Farm Trials (OFTs) laid by KVK Gurez during 2026-27 were monitored and reviewed, including trials on Wheat (SW-03) provided by KVK Gurez through thhe NSP, SKUAST-Kashmir over 70 hectares, covering 700 farm families across Gurez and Tulail, including Chakwali.
The visit was followed by inspections of the Potato Seed Village at Badugam, Maize Village at Tarbal and Buckwheat Seed Village at Dangan (Bagtore).
Under the leadership of the Vice-Chancellor, SKUAST-Kashmir, Prof. Nazir Ahmad Ganai, KVK Gurez has been directed to put in place very sincere and serious efforts for the revival of heritage crops, introduction of novel technologies of SKUAST-Kashmir to enhance production trends, generate income avenues and improve the quality of life of tribal farmers, the Director Extension said.
She lauded the efforts of KVK Gurez in attaining the assigned targets with significant results and informed that KVK Gurez is striving hard and marching towards achieving excellence.
She further stated that the United Nations has declared 2026 as the International Year of the Women Farmer (IYWF-2026) and informed that SKUAST-Kashmir, the fourth best Agriculture University in the country, is committed to working towards gender empowerment through reduction of farm drudgery, facilitating women to take farm decisions, besides ensuring their social and financial security.
In this endeavour, fifty tribal farming families, the majority of them being farm women from the far-flung Banjran area of Bagtore Block, Gurez, were provided free of cost, high-quality farm inputs under TSP-ICAR.
Receiving feedback from a few of the beneficiaries on the occasion, the farmers expressed gratitude to KVK Gurez for the efforts being made towards the betterment of the farming community across Gurez Valley.
