Kargil, Jan 15: Mohd Shabeer, a farmer of Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) Kargil-1 has received National Award (the Innovative Farmer Award) and his work has been recognized by Director ICAR–ATARI, Ludhiana.

The award was given by Prof. Parvender Sheoran, Director ATARI, Zone 1, in the presence of Vice Chancellor PAU, Prof. S S Gosal, Director Extension, SKUAST-K, Prof. Dil Mohammad Makhdoomi, along with a galaxy of dignitaries, during the foundation day celebration of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, Agriculture Technology Application Research Institute (ATARI), Zone 1, on 11th January at Ludhiana, Punjab.

The foundation day celebration was attended by 72 KVKs of North Zone- 1 from the states of Punjab, Uttrakhand, Himachal Pradesh, the UTs of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.

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Dr. Mohammad Mehdi, who attended the foundation day along with Mohd Shabir, expressed his happiness about the work of Shabir. Shabir is a young, innovative farmer, dedicated and hardworking farmer from Pashkum.

Some ten years back, Shabeer was a daily wage labour in HIMANK project and left the labour work in 2013. He started vegetable cultivation and homemade pickle for small quantities after coming in contact with Agriculture Department Kargil.

In 2015, he started protected cultivation of vegetables with the scientific interventions from KVK, Kargil. The interaction with KVK scientist further gained his interest in integrated farming with Pickle making and dairy unit as major enterprise with additional income from poultry farming.

The gross income of Shabeer from the enterprise which consist of pickle making, protected cultivation, milk plant and poultry is approximately Rs 33 lakh annually.

The skills and knowledge of the farmers of Kargil are regularly being updated by KVK Kargil through training and awareness camps, field visits, radio talk, and social media platforms.

The KVK Kargil has always played an important role in dissemination and promotion of region-specific technology for tribal farmers in Kargil.