Secretary, Agriculture and Horticulture, Ravinder Kumar visited Agriculture Department farms and private progressive farmer units on May 13.

He inspected the mushroom cultivation and spawns production unit at the Vegetable Development Farm, Guphuks and appreciated the initiative taken by the Agriculture Department. The concerned officials were asked to support young Agri-entrepreneurs from the region. Also, he asked the concerned officers for optimum use of farms and conduct experimental research with CSIR's assistance and involve other national institutes to develop new crop models and increase farmer income during his visit to the Fodder Development Farm at Palam. 

Secretary Ravinder also visited Thiksay farm and impressed upon the concerned officials to develop Thiksay farm as a model floriculture garden. He directed the Agriculture Department officials to support floriculturists by introducing different kinds of flowers, including perennials, annual cut flower, aromatic and medicinal herbs, to help the farmers adopt the latest technology and increase their income.

He instructed the Chief Agriculture Officer (CAO), Leh, to prepare a DPR for developing departmental farms with specific priorities. The CAO, Leh was asked to prepare specific objectives for each agriculture farm and focus on new state-of-art technologies with the help of national research institutes.

Secretary Ravinder also visited the nursery unit of Tsering Dolma and Lobzang Tsering established by the Agriculture Department.