JAMMU, Aug 7: A meeting of the committee constituted for finalizing the procurement, landed and sale rates of Toria (all varieties) and open-pollinated vegetable seeds for Rabi 2026-27, along with the sale rates of potato seed tubers, was held today under the chairmanship of Director Agriculture Production & Farmers Welfare, Jammu, Anil Gupta, at Krishi Bhawan, Talab Tillo, Jammu.
The meeting was attended by Joint Director Agriculture (Inputs), Sanjay Anand; Chief Scientist, Plant Breeding & Genetics, SKUAST-Jammu, Dr. Parveen Singh; Professor, Department of Vegetable Science and Floriculture, SKUAST-Jammu, Dr. Anil Bhushan; Nodal Officer (Seed), SKUAST-Jammu, Dr. Vijay Bharti; Potato Development Officer, Ravi Sharma; Divisional Seed Certification Officer, Nirmal Prakash Sharma; Accounts Officer, Vriti Uppal; Assistant Botanist, Vegetable Improvement Scheme (VIS), Jammu, Ajeet Singh, besides other committee members, concerned officers and staff. Director Agriculture, Kashmir, Sartaj Ahmad Shah, participated in the meeting through video conferencing.
The committee held detailed deliberations on the prevailing procurement and landed costs of various seed categories and examined the rates proposed for the forthcoming Rabi season. The discussions focused on ensuring timely availability of quality seed material at appropriate rates to farmers across the Jammu Division.
Speaking on the occasion, Director Agriculture Jammu Anil Gupta stressed the need to ensure timely availability of high-quality vegetable and potato seeds to farmers. He directed that, besides open-pollinated varieties, hybrid vegetable seeds should also be included in the procurement plan, with hybrid seeds comprising more than 25 percent of the total supply.
The Director further directed the officials of the Vegetable Improvement Scheme (VIS), Jammu, to collect district-wise seed demand from all Chief Agriculture Officers, clearly indicating the major crops and varieties required, so that procurement could be planned in accordance with field-level requirements.
Anil Gupta also called for strict adherence to the mandated cropping pattern at departmental farms and emphasized that production and procurement planning should remain aligned with the actual requirements of farmers.
Highlighting the emerging trend of urban farming, the Director suggested inclusion of vegetable seed mini-kits in the procurement plan to facilitate urban growers and encourage vegetable cultivation in urban and peri-urban areas.
After detailed deliberations, the committee finalized the procurement rates for seeds of major vegetable crops and potato seed tubers for the forthcoming Rabi season.
The exercise is aimed at ensuring transparent and rational fixation of seed rates, timely availability of quality planting material and effective implementation of the Rabi season seed distribution programme, thereby facilitating farmers in making timely arrangements for sowing.