Discrimination with Jammu farmers,who grow world famous Basmati rice

Scoop News June 10, 2010

Jammu, June 10 (Scoop News) – Senior leaders of BJP today alleged that the farmers of Jammu province have once again been ignored. They said that an annual production of Basmati is to the tune of 86,000 tonnes and it is grown on 32,000 hectares of land in Jammu province. Jammu province is the only area in the world which produces Basmati rice with a special aroma, unlike the Basmati rice produced in other parts of the globe.

Addressing a joint press conference in Jammu today BJP MLAs Ch. Sukhnandan ,Shyam Choudhary and Prof. Gharu Ram alleged that the farmers of Jammu, who have been subjected to repeated discrimination by the successive governments in the J&K state, had high hopes on 2-day visit of the Prime Minister, but they were once again discriminated when the PM announced the package only for the Kashmiri growers of Saffron cultivation and its promotion in the market.

The Legislators said it is very unfortunate that despite repeated requests and representations, neither the State nor the Central government has paid any heed or taken effective steps towards the world famous Basmati rice, which is only grown in Jammu province. Had this variety of rice been produced in the valley, every one in the government would have been working day and night to ensure that it gets international market and the valley farmers get good returns.

They said that we also raised the issue with him and the PM too was annoyed to hear such an approach of the state government towards the production and promotion of Basmati rice. They apprised the PM that the Basmati and other varieties of rice have not been procured by the government agencies as a result of which the farmers have been facing losses of their crops. The delegation also apprised the PM about the problems being faced by the Basmati growers on account of non-availability of seeds and fertilizers, besides lack of irrigation facilities.

The legislators said that there was a need for bringing Basmati growing areas under Export Zone in order to benefit the farmers.
They demanded a comprehensive policy to be framed for the promotion of Basmati rice and immediate steps for its procurement by the government. The policy should also include the safeguards for the growers of the variety

They said that they also brought to the notice of the PM about discrimination between two Agriculture Universities in Jammu and Srinagar by citing example that SKUAST in Kashmir has five facilities of Agriculture, Veterinary, Sericulture, Fisheries and Horticulture, while there are only two faculties of Agriculture and Veterinary in SKUAST of Jammu. They pleaded for removal of this discrimination between the two agriculture universities in the interest of the people of the state.

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