Progress through knowledge
Agriculture has always been the mainstay of Kashmir’s economy. Not only has the region progressed owing to the adoption of new agricultural practices but newer vistas of development in this sector are taking shape owing to scientific innovations and developments.
Kashmir region is known for its, Horticulture: Apple, cherry, apricot, and walnut production, besides, paddy cultivation and involvement of farmers in producing vegetables and spices.
Kashmir’s agriculture sector contributes around 20% to the region’s GDP. As of now agriculture remains a vital part of Kashmir’s economy, supporting over 13 lakh families and employing around 70% of the rural population.
Importantly, many paradigm shifts have been witnessed in agriculture after the initiatives like the Holistic Agriculture Development Programme (HADP), were announced which aim to boost productivity, enhance infrastructure, and improve market linkages for farmers.
However, one vital link that connects all the aspects of agriculture is providing knowledge to the farmers so that they are able to cash in on the new developments and new agricultural practices.
Recognising this opportunity, the administration took a forward-looking decision to provide knowledge to the farmers that too in a language they can comprehend easily. This vision culminated in the creation of Daksh Kisan, a Learning Management System (LMS) that today stands as the first initiative of its kind in India, and possibly in Asia, dedicated to the knowledge upgradation of farmers.
Launched amid cautious expectations, Daksh Kisan has, within just two years, emerged as one of the most successful digital capacity-building platforms for farmers in the country.
The initiative marked a significant departure from conventional extension approaches by embedding structured, measurable learning into a digital ecosystem tailored specifically for farmers.
Even a survey conducted under the dedicated farmer outreach campaign, ‘Kisan Sampark Abhiyan’ confirms that farmers are getting new insights about various agricultural practices that are shaping up their future.
The conceptual foundation of Daksh Kisan rested on a simple yet powerful insight that farmers if already digitally connected, learning must follow the same path. With smartphones becoming commonplace even in remote villages, the Agriculture Production Department, in collaboration with the two agricultural universities—SKUAST-Jammu and SKUAST-Kashmir—designed an LMS keeping usability, low-bandwidth access, language diversity and local relevance at its core.
A defining feature of the platform is its agro-climatic customisation. Courses are curated according to specific agro-climatic zones, ensuring that knowledge disseminated is not generic but tailored to local crops, soil conditions and weather patterns, ranging from temperate orchard systems to subtropical agricultural plains.
Notably, the Daksh Kisan offers multi-lingual course content in four local languages—Kashmiri, Dogri, Hindi and Urdu. This emphasis on inclusivity has enabled farmers from diverse linguistic backgrounds to participate with confidence and has played a decisive role in the platform’s widespread adoption, particularly among first-time digital learners.
Farmer empowerment through knowledge is the need of the hour and this initiative can truly take root and reshape the future of farm learning across Jammu and Kashmir.
