Jammu, Feb 11: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Wednesday said the ‘Agriculture First’ policy will play a decisive role in building a Developed India and an Aatma-Nirbhar Jammu and Kashmir, describing agriculture and allied sectors as the “ultimate insurance policy” for any developing nation.

Speaking at the inaugural session of the three-day Agriculture Summit and Kisan Mela organised by SKUAST-Jammu, the LG stressed that despite challenges like climate change and economic uncertainty, agriculture remains the backbone of stability and prosperity.
Highlighting the transformative potential of AI-powered farming, Sinha called for affordable and accessible technology tools that can predict crop output using weather, soil and crop data. He directed officials, scientists and experts to deploy IoT sensors and satellite imagery to create “digital farm twins” enabling precision irrigation and better yield forecasting.
“Technology and agriculture must go hand in hand. Strong agriculture is the foundation of national resilience and economic strength,” he said, urging development of farmer-centric AI solutions to boost yields and cut input costs.
The LG also called for village-level seed banks with climate-resilient varieties, circular farming models, district-level processing facilities and direct market linkages for FPOs to eliminate middlemen.
He reiterated that the Centre remains committed to safeguarding farmers’ interests and dismissed concerns surrounding recent trade agreements as misinformation.