Jammu, Apr 25 (KNO): Chief Secretary, Atal Dulloo chaired a review meeting to assess the progress and performance of the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) in Jammu and Kashmir in the presence of senior officers of the Agriculture Production Department and other concerned stakeholders.
The meeting besides ACS, Agriculture Production Department and MD, J&K Bank was attended by the MD, HADP; HoDs of the Department along with Representatives from Agricultural Universities here.
The meeting had an in depth review of the programme covering establishment status, key performance indicators, financial returns, employment generation and district-wise outcomes.
The Chief Secretary noted that the programme reflects strong financial viability, with a government subsidy of around ₹450 crore expected to be recovered within approximately 2.6 years through enhanced farm incomes. He directed the department to intensify outreach efforts and ensure greater inclusion of eligible farmers, particularly in districts with lower coverage.
The Chief Secretary laid strong emphasis on the importance of adopting a data-driven, district-specific approach to improve conversion from approvals to unit establishment, which currently stands at around 25 percent. The Chief Secretary emphasized the need to further improve training coverage and capacity building to enhance productivity and sustainability.
He reiterated that HADP has the potential to transform the agricultural landscape of J&K by enhancing farmer incomes, generating employment and promoting sustainable agriculture here. He called for ensuring sustained momentum, effective convergence and focused interventions to maximize its impact across the length and breadth of the UT.
Moreover he issued directions for faster conversion of approved applications into established units. He enjoined upon the concerned to lay focus on improvement in farmer registration and eKYC completion, strengthening of district-level monitoring and accountability, time-bound grievance redressal and scaling up of high-value agricultural activities to make this programme a success.
Regarding the functioning of Kisan Khidmat Ghars (KKGs), he directed for strengthening them further by improving licensing and expanding service delivery, including onboarding of banking and digital services at these centres.
On this occasion the ACS, Agriculture Production Department, Dr Ashish Chandra Verma gave the overall preview of the performance of this programme here. He apprised the meeting that HADP has so far facilitated the establishment of more than 1.11 lakh units across all 20 districts, benefiting 74,589 unique farming families.
He further observed that while the programme has achieved full geographic coverage, the overall coverage remains around 8.1 percent of the PM-Kisan beneficiary base, thereby leaving a substantial scope for the department to work for its expansion and optimal utilization to meet our targets on time.
The Managing Director, J&K Bank, Amitava Chatterjee also presented a detailed roadmap aimed at maximizing benefits for farmers under HADP. He highlighted key suggestions pertaining to digital interventions, including integration and onboarding of various stakeholder platforms onto the HADP portal to enhance efficiency and outreach.
He further assured full support and closer institutional synergy with the Agriculture Production Department to ensure seamless implementation of the programme and achievement of its envisaged objectives across all districts of J&K.
The MD HADP, Dr. Sagar Doifode Dattatray elucidated that the programme has generated an estimated annual revenue of ₹368 Cr and annual profit of ₹173 Cr at the beneficiary level, translating into an average income enhancement of about ₹25,000 per family per year, besides creating over 2.45 crore man-days of employment across 287 blocks and more than 5,100 villages and wards.
Revealing about the implementation quality, the MD gave out that about 92.9 percent of the units are functional and nearly 99 percent units are verified as existing, while 68.3 percent beneficiaries have undergone training under various components.
The meeting also reviewed district-wise performance, wherein districts such as Kulgam, Ganderbal and Shopian have recorded higher coverage, while districts like Poonch, Kishtwar and Reasi were identified as needing focused intervention.
It was further observed that large-scale projects such as Integrated Farming Systems, farm mechanization and fodder development are driving scale under HADP, while high-value sectors like dairy and agri-marketing offer higher returns and require scaling up through improved approval mechanisms.
The progress of the Kisan Khidmat Ghar (KKG) network was also reviewed. It was informed that 1,807 KKGs are functional across the Union Territory, serving over 8 lakh farmers with 96 percent fund utilization, and generating a combined monthly revenue of about ₹43.52 lakh.
It is pertinent to mention that HADP encompasses a comprehensive portfolio of 29 integrated projects spanning the sectors of horticulture, agriculture and livestock husbandry, each strategically designed to unlock the full potential of these domains and steer the sector towards enhanced sustainability, profitability and resilience.
With access to over 171 schemes and activities, the programme seeks to empower farmers, agri-entrepreneurs and rural youth through a structured framework of financial incentives, skill development, infrastructure creation and strengthened market linkages—(KNO)