Jammu, August 21, 2026 (Yes Punjab News)
Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday urged the region’s youth to develop solutions tailored to local agricultural and socio-economic challenges instead of simply replicating models developed abroad.
Sinha made the remarks while inaugurating new infrastructure facilities at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Jammu, and launching the Startup Outreach Programme under JKCIP. The programme brought together researchers, innovators, young entrepreneurs and farmers from across the Jammu division.
The newly inaugurated facilities include the Unnati Girls Hostel, Centre for AI and ML in Agriculture, Centre for Mushroom Research and Innovation, Advanced Sericulture Laboratory, and Centre for Digital Media and Publication.
Describing the facilities as a commitment to the region’s innovators, researchers, entrepreneurs and farming families, Sinha cited examples of technology-led agricultural innovation from the Netherlands, Israel, New Zealand and Brazil.
He said agriculture and allied sectors were emerging as a major global frontier for innovation, but stressed that Jammu and Kashmir needed solutions based on its own fields, farmers, climate and local challenges.
“Different countries have innovated for their own problems, and now it is time for Jammu and Kashmir to innovate for its own questions and challenges,” Sinha said.
He also encouraged young people to move from seeking employment to creating employment, describing this shift as central to the vision of a self-reliant Jammu and Kashmir.
Addressing students, the L-G said their degrees should be viewed as a starting point rather than an end destination. He said knowledge, curiosity, courage, patience and sustained effort could help young people turn ideas into successful enterprises that generate employment and dignity for others.
Sinha also called for greater diversification in agriculture through cold chains, grading and packaging facilities, regional branding and digital marketplaces capable of connecting J&K’s produce with markets in Delhi, Dubai and other destinations.
He emphasised women’s participation in entrepreneurship, saying enterprises should not merely include women but also be led by them. He urged greater support for women’s Self-Help Groups and Farmer Producer Organisations in accessing finance, technology and markets.
On the Startup Outreach Programme, Sinha said its objective was to reach farmers and rural youth who may have had little exposure to incubation, mentoring and venture capital. He noted that solutions to agricultural problems are often best developed by people who have experienced those challenges themselves.
SKUAST-Jammu has so far selected more than 150 students for idea incubation and supported 56 startups, he said, urging the university to expand these numbers and strengthen the link between laboratories and markets, scientists and farmers, and technology and ground-level needs.
Sinha said the university’s success should ultimately be measured by the ideas generated, enterprises established, solutions developed and improvements brought to the lives of farming families.
He also felicitated eight startups, FPOs and cooperative/rural enterprises for their contributions to agriculture, allied sectors, value addition and rural enterprise development.
Four publications were released during the programme: Policy Document for Promoting Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in J&K, Chronicle of Innovation & Startups under RKVY-RAFTAAR, SKUAST-Jammu, Value on the Vine: Economic and Market Dynamics of Vegetables and Student’s Rural Exploration Programme (SREP).
Sinha urged students to remain focused on identifying problems, building enterprises, adding value to agriculture and creating benefits for farming families.
He expressed confidence that Jammu and Kashmir would increasingly gain recognition for innovation, agricultural entrepreneurship, science, technology and youth leadership.
Shailendra Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department; Prof B.N. Tripathi, Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-Jammu; Dr Amrish Vaid, Director Extension; Dr Anil Kumar, Registrar; faculty members, senior officials, students, scientists, entrepreneurs and representatives of startups, FPOs and cooperatives attended the programme.
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