Kishtwar, October 21, 2026: Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK), Kishtwar, organised a one-day capacity-building programme on organic and natural farming practices for soil health management under Project 16 of the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP) of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to details received by The Chenab Times, the programme focused on promoting alternative agricultural systems, improving soil health and encouraging sustainable farming practices among officials of the Agriculture and Horticulture departments. A total of 30 officials participated in the training.
The programme was organised under the leadership of Professor B. N. Tripathi, Vice Chancellor of Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu (SKUAST-Jammu), with guidance from Dr. S. K. Gupta, Director Research, and Dr. Amrish Vaid, Director Extension.
At the outset, Kushal Chandel, Chief Agriculture Officer, welcomed Dr. Balbir Dhotra, Principal Investigator of the project at the Centre for Organic and Natural Farming (CONF), SKUAST-Jammu; Dr. Berjesh Ajrawat, Chief Scientist and Head of KVK Kishtwar; Abdul Rouf, Technical Officer to the Chief Horticulture Officer, Kishtwar; and the participating officials.
Chandel highlighted the importance of sustainable agricultural technologies and stressed the need to adopt practices suited to current agricultural challenges.
Dr. Balbir Dhotra, Professor of Soil Science at CONF and Principal Investigator of the project, spoke about the role of sustainable agricultural practices in improving soil health and farm productivity. He emphasised the use of organic inputs, resource conservation and environmentally friendly farming methods to support long-term agricultural sustainability.
Dr. Amitesh Sharma, Scientist at KVK Kishtwar, discussed the future prospects of natural farming and its integration with integrated farming systems. He highlighted the potential of combining different farming approaches to promote sustainability and improve agricultural productivity.
Dr. Berjesh Ajrawat also highlighted the importance of natural farming in developing sustainable agricultural systems.
The programme aimed to familiarise officials with alternative agricultural systems, organic and natural farming techniques, and approaches to improving soil health and farm productivity.
The proceedings were conducted by Lorin Kausar, Agriculture Extension Officer (AEO), Kandni, Kishtwar. She introduced the programme, explained the importance of extension technologies and briefed participants on the scope of organic and natural farming clusters in Kishtwar district.
The programme concluded with the distribution of certificates and an interactive session between resource persons and participants.
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Saqib Zargar is a The Chenab Times staff reporter.
