SKUAST-K

Kashmir Agriculture

SKUAST-K Holds 21st SAC Meeting of KVK Srinagar, Launches Students’ Rural Exploration Programme

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SKUAST-K

 Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir held the 21st Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) Meeting of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Srinagar for the year 2025-26.

According to a press release issued ,Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-K, Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai, who chaired the meeting at KVK office Nadergund Peerbagh, highlight the launch of the Students’ Rural Exploration Programme (SREP).Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel

He said the initiative will engage students from various agricultural and allied disciplines with approximately 400 village panchayats to collect real-time data on local challenges and opportunities.

The aim is to generate data for evidence-driven policies and need-based interventions at the grassroots level. Prof Ganai urged participants to ensure the SREP’s effective execution through field-level engagement.

The Vice-Chancellor also emphasised the importance of the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) and the JKCIP in providing financial support and strategic direction to boost farmers’ income.

During the event, Prof Ganai inaugurated new facilities, including a NABARD-funded Farmer Facilitation Centre and a Hi-Tech Polyhouse, and inspected a stall showcasing technological interventions, products, and niche crops developed by Self-Help Groups (SHGs) and progressive farmers.

Dr SA Simnani, Head KVK, presented the Action Taken Report for 2024-25 and the Annual Action Plan for 2025-26. Statutory members from line departments, including Agriculture, Horticulture, and Animal Husbandry, along with farmers, FPOs, and civil society representatives, provided valuable inputs for the plan’s refinement.

The meeting concluded with the Director Extension, Prof. Raihana Habib, acknowledging the KVK Srinagar’s efforts in strengthening the connection between the research system and farmers’ fields.

The meeting saw participation from statutory officers, district heads, progressive farmers, Self-Help Groups (SHGs), Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs), civil society representatives, agri-preneurs, public representatives and KVK Heads of Kashmir division.(KNS) 

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Kashmir Agriculture

SKUAST-K’s RBIC Hosts Workshop on Innovation to Product Commercialisation with NABARD Support

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SKUAST-K’s RBIC

Rural Business Incubation Centre (RBIC) at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, supported by NABARD, hosted a one-day hands-on workshop on ‘Innovation to Product Commercialisation’, aimed at transforming research ideas into commercially viable ventures in the agriculture and allied sectors.Click Here To Follow Our WhatsApp Channel

The workshop was conducted by national deep-tech expert Dr Kaushik Choudhury, CEO, AIC IPR Plasmatech Innovation Foundation (Department of Atomic Energy, GoI), Ahmedabad. Dr Choudhury shared a practical roadmap for innovators, drawing on his vast experience in supporting startups and co-founding companies that successfully commercialised high-impact medical and agricultural technologies.

The session focused on bridging the critical gap between laboratory discovery and market application, providing participants with the mindset and tools needed for scaling up their products. About 100 scholars, students, faculty members, innovators and startup founders participated in the daylong workshop.

The workshop was inaugurated by Director Education, SKUAST-K, Prof Mohd Altaf Bhat, who was the chief guest at the occasion.

Prof Bhat highlighted the University’s commitment, driven by the vision of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Nazir Ahmad Ganai, who established Innovation and Entrepreneurship as the Fourth Mandate of the institution. He emphasised SKUAST-K is equipped with 21 state-of-the-art labs and vast intellectual capital to turn the valley into a startup hub.

Assistant General Manager, NABARD, Kanav Sharma, said that RBIC at SKUAST-K shall prove a game changer in empowering rural community through entrepreneurship and innovation for employment generation and economic development.

Head, IBPR, SKUAST-K Prof Farhet Shaeen, in his concluding remarks, said that RBIC must reach out to young talent to look for innovative ideas that have high potential of real world problem solving.

Dr Jameel Ahmad Khan, CEO, RBIC, introduced the centre as the institutional mechanism to provide end-to-end support through its five verticals – incubation, mentorship, capacity building, funding – to agripreneurs and rural startups in the region.

A select number of startups that displayed their products will receive an opportunity to showcase their products and ideas at the People’s Festival of Innovations 2025 in New Delhi from November 17-20, 2025.

Recently established Rural Business Incubation Centre hosted at SKUAST-K, funded and supported by National Agriculture and Rural Development Bank (NABARD), aims to strengthen the innovation and startup ecosystem in J&K and Ladakh through dedicated mentorship, incubation facilities, funding and other required facilities for startups and ventures.

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Kashmir Agriculture

SKUAST-K Hosts Awareness Program on Pesticide Use and Farmers’ Concerns on Electricity Tariffs in Pulwama

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SKUAST-K

The Division of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Horticulture (FoH), SKUAST-K, Shalimar, conducted a one-day awareness and farmer-scientist interaction programme on the judicious use of pesticides under the HADP-18 project, “Minimization of Pesticide Use in Agriculture.”

The event, held at Arihal Pulwama, was organized in collaboration with the Departments of Horticulture and Agriculture to promote advanced pest and disease management strategies among farmers.

“Phone calls from various villages reveal electricity bills inflated by 50%. Even I am confused – did they promise to decrease electricity tariffs or increase them?” he questioned.Lone accused the NC-led government of employing “age-old trickery” by raising tariffs only to later offer waivers as a political gimmick.

“Imagine a household paying 100 in electricity fees. Instead of reducing it to 50 as promised, they hike it to 200, then waive 50, leaving the consumer paying 150 – still 50% more than before the elections. This isn’t relief; it’s deceit. Trust me, if they do it, I will not be surprised,” he said.

Calling on the Power Development Department to act immediately, Lone urged them to stop what he described as “arbitrary and unjustified” tariff hikes.

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