CM Omar Abdullah Inaugurates ₹5.93 Crore Agriculture Centre of Excellence to Drive Climate-Resilient Farming
JAMMU, April 7, 2026 — Chief Minister Omar Abdullah today inaugurated the high-tech Centre of Excellence for Entrepreneurship in Precision Vegetable and Floriculture Farming at Talab Tillo, a ₹5.93 crore project developed under NABARD.
The facility, completed in record time after its foundation stone was laid in August 2025, is designed to empower the farming community by providing top-tier plant materials and seeds.
During a detailed tour of the infrastructure, the Chief Minister lauded the Agriculture Production Department for its rapid execution and emphasized that such high-tech polyhouses are essential to ensure that farmers’ hard work translates into high-yield, market-ready crops.
Addressing a large gathering of farmers, the Chief Minister highlighted the growing unpredictability of agriculture due to global climate change, noting that traditional reliance on weather patterns is no longer viable.
He underscored the government’s responsibility to mitigate these risks through modern interventions, such as crop insurance and assured irrigation. Specifically addressing irrigation bottlenecks, he issued directives to ensure that desilting and maintenance reach the “tail end” of small canals, ensuring water actually reaches the farmers’ fields.
He stressed that providing substandard seeds is an “injustice” to the rural workforce, affirming that this new Centre will serve as a primary source for verified, high-quality inputs that farmers can trust.Looking toward the future, the Chief Minister called for the replication of these Centres of Excellence across all districts to decentralize access to modern agricultural technology.
Supporting this vision, Minister for Agriculture Production Javid Ahmed Dar announced that, as per the Budget 2026-27, similar centres will be established in all 20 districts of Jammu and Kashmir to catalyze visible growth within the next three years.
The event, attended by Advisor Nasir Aslam Wani, MLA Arvind Gupta, and Additional Chief Secretary Ashish Chander Verma, also saw the distribution of sanction letters to beneficiaries under the Holistic Agriculture Development Program (HADP), marking a decisive step toward doubling farmers’ incomes through science-led farming.