Udhampur (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], March 13 (ANI): Kewal Kumar, a farmer from Dhanu village in the Tikri block of Udhampur, Jammu and Kashmir, has undergone a remarkable life transformation after 35 years in traditional agriculture, due to modern government schemes initiated after 2024, such as the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HAPD).

Speaking to ANI on Friday, Kumar highlighted that the transition has yielded results beyond his expectations, while thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the policy support and subsidies.

'Since 2014, we have witnessed such profound changes in agriculture that we could never have even imagined them. The transformation has been immense. We have benefited from numerous schemes and received various subsidies... We extend our gratitude to PM Modi, who provided us with these polyhouses and ensured that our entire farming operation is supported by subsidies,' he said.

Kumar has successfully mitigated the risks of both adverse weather and pests, allowing him to focus on high-yield cultivation with total security. This season, he has celebrated a massive bumper crop of hybrid tomatoes, a success so significant that he no longer needs to travel to the market to sell his produce; instead, customers flock directly to his farm to buy his tomatoes at premium prices.

Chief Agricultural Officer (CAO) of Udhampur, Harbans Singh, emphasized how the district has firmly established itself as a critical vegetable hub in the region.

'Our Udhampur district is a vegetable hub, where there is a lot of vegetable production, with an area of 3,600 hectares of vegetables, and there is a production of 9,5000 tons... For the local farmers in our Udhampur district, there is a good market for it,' Singh told ANI.

Highlighting the success of the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme, he added, 'In that, we have made 12 high-tech polyhouses and 40 low-cost polyhouses. In them, good cherry tomatoes are planted by the farmers,' further noting that Kumar received the operational cost for his venture with this initiative.

HADP is an integrated program encompassing the full spectrum of activities in the three major domains of agri-economy viz Horticulture, Agriculture and Livestock husbandry in Jammu and Kashmir. The programme will lead to employment generation benefiting lakhs of marginal families in Jammu and Kashmir, according to an official release from the PMO. (ANI)