Rural youth of JK losing interest in agriculture: Pathania

Jammu, October 9 (Scoop News) –R. S. Pathania, a senior Pradesh Youth Congress leader has today appealed the state government, and particularly ministry of Agriculture, for launching of certain crash measures with a view to lure the new generation for fresh ventures and projects in the field of Agriculture.

R. S. Pathania  was addressing rural youth in Bani, Billawar, Hiranagar, Kathua, Basohli, Ramnagar, Udhampur, Ramban, Nowshera, Kalakote. He was accompanied by a battery of senior Youth Congress leaders during the extensive tour that also interacted with the rural youth.

He said that spiraling prices of seeds and fertilizers and high costs of cultivation and labour has virtually disenchanted the rural youth, and particularly those hailing from hilly areas where the production levels and fertility rates are comparatively lower, for pursuing agriculture as a source of living. He said that unemployment especially among the rural youth, particularly enhanced by land fragmentation, has forced thousands of youth to hanker after suitable employment at out-of-state destinations leading to mass migrations and brain-drain from the rural areas. A catch-22 like situation is prevailing in J & K where rural youth are never willing to pursue agriculture as a career and future source of livelihood.

Pathania made a fervent appeal for carving out a comprehensive policy regarding attracting the rural youth and diverting them towards cooperative framing, multi-disciplinary approach in farming, organic farming, watersheds and adopting modern and non-conventional techniques of cultivation and creating voluble sources of irrigation in rural areas of J & K. They should be further encouraged to rely more on cash crops. Government has to make a provision for incentives and training programmes for the rural youth with a view to making them self-sufficient and self-dependent.

 He termed it as a worst irony that despite widest-ever potential in tourism, pilgrimage, educational and adventure tourism, horticulture, sericulture, apiculture and even small-scale industries in rural areas of Jammu, people have to shuttle from one state to another in search of bread and butter for their family.