Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday said that the global food system rests on women’s labour, yet it excludes them from prosperity.
They work harder than their male counterparts and their strength anchors food security, planting seeds of prosperity for families and society in every field. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, women’s empowerment is the top priority across all sectors, Sinha said.
The Lieutenant Governor was speaking at the Women Farmers Conference, organised by Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) at Srinagar.
He highlighted the contributions of women farmers in agriculture and allied sectors, the efforts of women agri-entrepreneurs, and emphasised developing the agriculture sector under their leadership.
He said that the UN General Assembly has fittingly declared 2026 the International Year of Women Farmers, which was a long-awaited dream.
The LG called upon technology innovators to prioritise technical tools for women farmers.
He stressed that the agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, and dairy departments must allocate resources to women farmers, while financial institutions design loan products enabling landless women farmers to access credit in their names.
The Lieutenant Governor exhorted the stakeholders to grant women farmers and entrepreneurs recognition, resources, and agency to work on their terms. “Empowered women farmers are bearers of climate resilience, building robust agri-ecosystems with quality seeds, digital tools, and market linkages from cooperatives,” he said.
The Lieutenant Governor observed that through the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP), Jammu and Kashmir advances holistic, tech-driven, farmer-centric transformation for higher production, incomes, and sustainable agriculture. It has registered 14,782 women farmers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched JKCIP on June 20, 2024, targeting climate-smart, market-oriented production; agri-economy ecosystems; sectoral development; and aid for vulnerable groups, women, and youth—registering 5,248 women farmers. PM Kisan Samman Nidhi has over 90,000 women beneficiaries. Over 8,000 women farmers are registered in natural farming and central schemes; 4,472 in horticulture; 128 in sericulture; over 144,000 in SKUAST schemes; 27,500 in dairy; and more than 16,000 in sheep farming and fisheries. Across agriculture and allied sectors, nearly 3,11,000 women are registered, he said.
The Lieutenant Governor urged IFFCO to establish a farmers’ training centre, a multi-facility farmers’ service centre, and a sheep production unit in J&K, along with providing mobile soil testing machines to support local farmers.