Taking benefit of the prevailing cease-fire on the border, farmers living near the International Border (IB) and Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir have resolved to start cultivation on fields beyond the fencing.
After farmers of the Suchetgarh sector of R S Pura sub-division of Jammu and Kashmir have started cultivation beyond the fencing, farmers of border areas of Samba have also resolved to start cultivation near Zero-Line.
District administration Samba in collaboration with Border Security Force (BSF) on Saturday organized a farmers' tour to the Suchetgarh sector and encouraged them to take up agricultural activities beyond the fence in the Samba sector as well.
During the exposure visit, the group of 100 farmers along with Panchayat members from Rajpura, Samba, and Ramgarh have detailed interaction with their counterparts at Suchetgarh and agriculture officers on cultivable crops and practices that can be taken up along the International Border.
Deputy Commissioner Samba, Anuradha Gupta informed that on the direction of J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, the district administration is encouraging Border farmers of Samba to cultivate their fields in the forward areas. "An exposure visit of Samba farmers was organized to the Suchetgarh border to encourage them to follow the suit."
The DC said that the district administration and BSF authorities will extend full cooperation to farmers by addressing their concerns and also supporting them in doing routine farming beyond the border fence.
500 hectares of land situated beyond fencing in Samba district alone
Notably, 500 hectares of cultivable land beyond border fencing is available for cultivation in district Samba along International Border.
The district officers accompanying the farmers informed them that crops like aloe vera, lemon grass, etc can also be sown in the area along with conventional crops. The uncultivated land across the fence can also be sown with the help of BSF and the farmers can be encouraged to take up agricultural activities, said the District Officer.
"We stopped cultivation due to the fear of Pakistan firing. Now with the government's encouragement farmers here are cultivating their land beyond the fence and we can also resume the cultivation under security cover of BSF," said a visiting farmer.
Farmers start cultivation beyond fencing in Kathua
Farmers of Kathua district have already started cultivation of wheat crops along the International Border in the Hiranagar sector after the district administration and the BSF extended full support to them.
"We have encouraged the farmers to cultivate their fields on the forward line. All additional support of seeds, fertilizer, tractors were given to farmers by BSF and the civil administration," Kathua Deputy Commissioner Rahul Yadav has stated.
He said the government has set a target of cultivating 100 acres of land this season and the rest of the area will be covered later on.
