Strawberry Cultivation in J&K Providing Employment to Youths

New Delhi: Strawberry cultivation is providing ample employment opportunities to the youth of Jammu and Kashmir. It is gaining momentum as it is yielding good profits to the farmers.

Union and Jammu and Kashmir governments provide loans and technical handholding to the young farmers of the Union Territory in an effort to attract them towards the farming business.

The favorable climatic conditions in Jammu and Kashmir have provided ample opportunities for the youth to take up strawberry farming as a business for better sustainability.

Farmers in Gassu Batpora village on the outskirts of Srinagar city are happy with the harvesting of strawberries. Having the highest number of people growing strawberries, Gassu is famously known as the ‘Strawberry Village.

Farmers cultivate tonnes of exotic berries on hundreds of acres of land every year. It is also the first one to produce strawberries in the entire Kashmir Valley. Women as well as children are also involved in the strawberry business in this village.

In recent years, strawberry has emerged as a cash crop in the Kashmir valley with many vegetable farmers having switched to strawberry cultivation.

Besides strawberries, Kashmiri fruits like apples, cherries, grapes, apricot, and plum are also very famous across the world for their quality and rich taste and are bringing good returns to the farmers of Jammu and Kashmir.