SRINAGAR: Union Minister for Agriculture, Farmers’ Welfare and Rural Development Shri Shivraj Singh Chouhan is set to embark on a two-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on July 3 and 4, during which he will lead high-level discussions on agriculture and rural development and participate in academic and community outreach programmes.
Chouhan will begin his visit on Thursday morning with a review meeting at the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar. The meeting will include senior officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare as well as the Department of Rural Development and will focus on key policy issues and development initiatives.
Later in the afternoon, the Minister will attend a Consultative Committee meeting on Natural Farming and the National Oilseeds Mission. He is also scheduled to meet with the Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir, Shri Manoj Sinha, during a courtesy call at Raj Bhavan in the evening.
On July 4, Chouhan will serve as the chief guest at the sixth convocation ceremony of the Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST-K), Srinagar, held at the university’s Shalimar Convention Centre.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, who is also the Chancellor of the University, and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the Pro-Chancellor of SKUAST-K, will also attend the event. During the convocation, 5,250 students will be conferred undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral degrees, along with 150 gold medals and 445 merit certificates recognising academic excellence.
Following the convocation, the Union Minister will tour saffron and apple orchards within the SKUAST-K campus and interact with horticulture scientists and local farmers. His itinerary also includes a visit to Khonmoh village, where he will meet ‘Lakhpati Didis’ — women who represent rural economic empowerment and self-reliance.
The visit is part of the Centre’s ongoing push to promote sustainable agriculture and strengthen the rural economy in the Union Territory. As part of the ‘Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan’, Shri Chouhan had earlier visited Jammu to engage directly with farmers, and his latest visit aims to continue that dialogue and further policy implementation on the ground.
