Saffron, Walnut, Basmati, Apple to be promoted; Chief Secretary reviews ‘One District-One Product’ scheme

Srinagar: The Chief Secretary, B V R Subrahmanyam today chaired a meeting of the Apex Level Approval Committee (ALAC) to review the rollout of the ‘One District-One Product’ component of the ‘Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises’ (FME) scheme in Jammu & Kashmir.
Administrative Secretaries of departments of Agriculture Production and Farmers Welfare, Horticulture, Animal Husbandry & Fisheries, Cooperatives, Forest, Ecology & Environment, besides HoDs of National Cooperative Development Corporation, National Skill Development Corporation, SRLM, SKUAST, Jammu/Kashmir participated in the meeting.
The meeting was informed that under the umbrella of Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan, the FME scheme through its targeted approach of ‘One District-One Product’, will provide a framework for value chain development and alignment of support infrastructure by identifying a unique food product per district, with a special focus on perishable items including agri-produce, cereal-based product, and a food product widely produced in a district.
The scheme is aimed at strengthening the backward and forward linkages to the micro food processing enterprises by providing common facilities of incubation centres, training, R&D, and marketing & branding.
The Chief Secretary impressed upon the concerned to develop a mechanism by which the provisions of the scheme are utilized to complement the existing promotional efforts of the Government through Agriculture Crop Clusters, Agriculture Export Policy, and National Rurban Mission.
The department of Agriculture Production and Farmers Welfare was asked to identify the district-wise priority agriculture produce for development under the Micro Food Processing Enterprise Scheme with a special focus on region-specific Basmati Rice, Saffron, Apple, Walnut, Maize, Organic Vegetables, Mushroom, Lavender, Trout, Rajmash among others.