Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan will visit Jammu and Kashmir on July 3 and 4. The two-day visit will focus on agriculture, rural development, and academic engagement, as part of the Centre’s ongoing efforts to promote sustainable farming and strengthen grassroots-level connections with the farming community.
On July 3, Minister Chouhan will begin his visit in Srinagar with a high-level review meeting at the Civil Secretariat, where he will meet senior officials from the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare and the Department of Rural Development. Later in the day, he will participate in a Consultative Committee meeting to review two key national initiatives, Natural Farming and the National Oilseeds Mission. In the evening, he is scheduled to meet Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha at the Raj Bhavan.
The next day on July 4, Union Minister will attend the sixth convocation ceremony of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST-K) at the Shalimar Convention Centre in Srinagar. Chouhan will be the chief guest at the ceremony, where degrees will be conferred on 5,250 students.
The event will also see the distribution of 150 gold medals and 445 merit certificates to meritorious students. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who serve as Chancellor and Pro-Chancellor of the university respectively, are also expected to attend the convocation.
Following the academic event, Minister Chouhan will visit the saffron and apple orchards located within the SKUAST-K campus. There, he will interact with horticulture scientists and farmers to understand local practices and challenges.
Later, he is scheduled to meet ‘Lakhpati Didis’, women who have achieved financial independence through self-help groups, in Khonmoh village, in an effort to highlight rural women’s empowerment.
The visit comes weeks after Chouhan’s outreach in Jammu under the ‘Viksit Krishi Sankalp Abhiyan’, where he directly engaged with farmers.
