I am surprised to see a level of anti-India posts here by a handful of member who don’t seem to mind using wild exaggeration, baseless fabrication and outright dishonesty to knock India, particularly about Kashmir. There is only so much one can try to argue with such people who have come wit minds made-up.
But results are something else. And what a study in contrast!!!
**Kashmir is all set to become the vegetable hub of north India. This year, the quantity of vegetables that the Valley intends to send to north Indian states is set to cross 1.5 lakh metric tonnes, an all-time high since farmers took to growing vegetables in a big way.
The economy of Waziristan, one of the more prosperous agencies, has been shattered. Fruit orchards and agricultural lands stand destroyed and burnt-out buildings mark sites where schools and shops once stood.**
**Kashmir all set to become North India’s vegetable hub
****Shabir Ibn Yusuf
**SRINAGAR, Aug 1: **Kashmir is all set to become the vegetable hub of north India. This year, the quantity of vegetables that the Valley intends to send to north Indian states is set to cross 1.5 lakh metric tonnes, an all-time high since farmers took to growing vegetables in a big way. **
Joint director, agriculture extension, Virender Moza said, “The quantity of vegetables that will go out of the Valley this year will easily cross 10 lakh metric tones. In May, vegetables worth Rs 33 crores were sent to various states from the valley.”
Officials said Srinagar, Budgam and Pulwama are emerging as major vegetable zone. “In the valley, over 27,000 hectares of land is under vegetable cultivation and the floating gardens within the famous Dal Lake too make a good contribution,” added the official. Officials and traders claim that vegetables from Kashmir are regularly dispatched to Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
“Green collared (haaq), cabbage, cauliflower, potatoes, beans, onions, lotus stem (nadroo) are the most sought-after varieties of vegetables outside the state,” said vegetable exporter Bilal Ahmad, adding that the export fetches good money. “Owing to the benefits, more and more people, especially youth, are showing interest in vegetable cultivation,” he said.
Moza said in the last five years, vegetable production has registered a 500 per cent growth while revenue from vegetable production was Rs 20 crore in 2003, this year’s revenue generation would be around Rs 200 crore.
The agriculture department has also played a vital role in providing expertise to the farmers.
Moza said that under the horticulture technology mission scheme, the department provided latest seeds to the farmers, besides giving them poly green houses and irrigation pumps at subsidized rates. He said, “We are planning to bring more land under the vegetable expansion programme, without converting fruit orchards and paddy fields into vegetable gardens,” he added.
Abdul Rashid of Budgam, owns three vegetable gardens in Budgam district, said that more and more people are moving towards developing vegetable farms. “Earlier, Kashmiri people grew fruits in their orchards and farms. But after seeing good dividends, vegetable farming is becoming a lucrative business,” he said. Rashid said that vegetable farming could provide employment to at least one lakh families in the next decade.
Without homes](The News International: Latest News Breaking, World, Entertainment, Royal News)
Saturday, August 02, 2008
The latest round of bitter fighting in Swat is reported to have forced hundreds of people to leave their homes. The fear of these civilians has been intensified by the death of at least 17 ordinary citizens, as a result of mortar shelling, within the last 24 hours. People in the area complain that residential areas are being targeted, presumably because militants are said to be hiding there. But for the children, women and men of Swat this means constant terror and the lurking threat of death. These persons have then been made to pay the price of a war that they have no role in starting.
Newspaper pictures show people streaming out of towns on foot, carrying essential belongings in small bundles. Some have no safe place to go to but seek only escape from the devastation that has ripped apart villages and homes. Similar displacements have taken place from Bajaur, South Waziristan, Kurram Agency and other areas of conflict. The economy of Waziristan, one of the more prosperous agencies, has been shattered.** Fruit orchards and agricultural lands stand destroyed and burnt-out buildings mark sites where schools and shops once stood.**
Due to the fighting in the northern areas, Pakistan now has a large population of Internally Displaced People (IDPs). Their precise number is difficult to estimate given the lack of any systematic effort to survey them. Some organizations have stated that it runs to well over 50 or 60 thousand. Some have chosen to leave homes permanently. Others flee when the situation grows especially grim, as it has now in Swat.
Nothing has been said about official efforts to help these hapless people. Some will go to relatives, others will no doubt find shelter where they can. The ISPR has said the operation in Swat will continue to its ‘logical end’. This may make sense in military terms, but given the humanitarian fallout, authorities must also make some effort to provide for innocent citizens caught up in conflict. Urgent provision for housing, food and clothing must be made. Indeed, it is essential that this be done, not only because it is the duty of the state to protect citizens but because showing the more caring face of government to people who have faced its wrath as bombs fall on their homes can help win their support and trust. Eventually, the people of Swat and other troubled areas hold the key to defeating militancy in their regions. The authorities must win their hearts. As displacements continue the misery they bring will only harden attitudes towards the government. The least it can then do is help minimize the suffering imposed by the fighting on people who have borne its brunt and indeed also make sure that straffing of populated areas is avoided at all costs.