Jammu, Aug 21: “Different countries have innovated for their own problems, and now it is time for Jammu Kashmir to innovate for its own questions and challenges,” said Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday as he inaugurated new infrastructure facilities and launched the Startup Outreach Programme at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology (SKUAST), Jammu.
The Lieutenant Governor inaugurated 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 additions as more than physical infrastructure, calling them a commitment to the region’s innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers and farming families.
Sinha highlighted India’s changing employment aspirations and observed that today’s youth in Jammu and Kashmir are increasingly looking to create jobs rather than wait in line for them. He said such shift in aspiration is central to the vision of a Self-Reliant Jammu Kashmir.
“The truest meaning of a Self-Reliant Jammu Kashmir is a region where every young citizen becomes an employer in some form, according to their ability and talent,” he said.
The LG cautioned the youth against simply replicating foreign models, urging them instead to study their own fields, farmers, climate and local challenges, and to build solutions suited to the region’s specific needs.
Drawing attention to global examples of technology-driven agriculture, from a dairy innovation hub in the Netherlands to Israel’s integration of data and smart management across agriculture and dairy, New Zealand’s digital push in animal husbandry, and a Brazilian irrigation startup, the LG said agriculture and allied sectors represent the next major frontier for innovation worldwide.
“You must understand your own fields, farmers, climate, and local problems to prepare your next solution, and customize those models in your own way wherever appropriate,” he said.
Addressing students, the Lieutenant Governor said, “Your degree is not your destination; rather, it is like a runway for your flight of success. SKUAST-Jammu will give you knowledge, but your curiosity will give you new thoughts and ideas. Your courage will turn that idea into a startup, and if you continue to advance that startup with patience, honesty, and consistent hard work, one day that same startup will provide employment and dignity to someone who today is sitting exactly where you are.”
He encouraged young farmers to explore cold chains, grading and packaging units, regional branding, and digital marketplaces that could connect Jammu Kashmir’s produce with markets in Delhi, Dubai and beyond.
The Lieutenant Governor stressed that women’s participation in the entrepreneurship ecosystem should be the key priority.
“No entrepreneurship revolution can be complete without the equal and active participation of women. And no economy can truly become strong until women are equal partners in it. I do not just want to see women present in enterprises; I want to see enterprises led by women,” he said.
The Lieutenant Governor noted that SKUAST-Jammu has so far selected more than 150 students for idea incubation and supported 56 promising startups, while extending its outreach to remote parts of the Jammu region. He urged the university to multiply these numbers and evolve into a genuine bridge between laboratories and markets, scientists and farmers, and technology and ground-level needs.
“Real success of SKUAST-Jammu will not be measured only by how many students graduate from here, but by how many new ideas were born here, how many solutions to problems were developed here, how many enterprises were established here, and how many farming families’ lives were positively changed by those enterprises,” he said.
The LG called upon students to ask four questions every day: what problem can I solve, what enterprise can I build, what value can I add to agriculture, and how many families can benefit from my idea?
“If these four questions keep troubling your mind continuously, then no one can stop you from finding the purpose of your career,” he said.
The Lieutenant Governor felicitated eight startups, FPOs and cooperative/rural enterprises for their contributions to agriculture, allied sectors, value addition and rural enterprise development. Four publications, including the “Policy Document for Promoting Medicinal and Aromatic Plants in J&K” and “Chronicle of Innovation & Startups under RKVY-RAFTAAR, SKUAST-Jammu”, were also released.
Shailendra Kumar, Additional Chief Secretary, Finance Department; Prof. B.N. Tripathi, Vice Chancellor, SKUAST-Jammu; Dr. Amrish Vaid, Director Extension; Dr. Anil Kumar, Registrar and faculty of SKUAST Jammu; senior officials, students, scientists, entrepreneurs, representatives of startups, FPOs, cooperatives and other stakeholders were present.
