Poonch (Jammu & Kashmir), Dec 11 (IANS): Under the Central government's Agricultural Technology Management Agency (ATMA or Atma) scheme, the agriculture department of Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch district has taken an important step towards financially empowering women.

As part of the scheme, the department is providing training to women in agriculture and also distributing hybrid vegetable plants.

The Agriculture Department on Wednesday took women from the villages of Sathra, Chaktroo, and Chandak on a tour of the Poly Greenhouse located at the district headquarters in Poonch.

The tour was led by District Agriculture Officer Dharmendra Singh. During the visit, Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officer Charanjeet Singh told the farmers about the various hybrid vegetable plants being cultivated there and also distributed the plants to them.

Salma Akhtar, one of the participants, told IANS: "We are from Sathra village. The agriculture department invited us here. We were given seeds for vegetables like cauliflower and gourd. We will take these seeds home and plant them properly to benefit from them. These vegetables are for our home consumption.

"Our government has helped us a lot, and today we are standing on our own feet. We thank the central government and especially PM Modi for their support."

Zaida, another participant, said: "We have formed a group, and everyone here is with us. In the coming months, we will be provided with mushrooms. We have planted 60 gardens and are growing vegetables at home. This government is doing great things, and it is improving our condition. The Modi government is truly a great government, and we hope to receive more help in the future."

Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officer Charanjeet Singh explained the benefits of the scheme, stating, "A special programme was held under the Atma scheme on Wednesday, especially for women farmers. Under this scheme, we organised an exposure visit at our Chief Agriculture Office Complex.

"Here, we have set up a naturally ventilated Poly Greenhouse where we are growing hybrid vegetable seeds such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and onions. The objective was to show the women farmers how we are growing these vegetables. We invited 25 women farmers for this exposure visit and also decided to transfer Rs 300 to their accounts through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT). We gave them the opportunity to purchase vegetables from the department."

He further added: "Our goal is to spread the message to the entire farming community through these women farmers, showing how diversifying agriculture can help increase income. By growing vegetables alongside traditional crops, promoting beekeeping, and mushroom production, we are working to enhance agricultural diversification. We provided detailed information to the women farmers on this and suggested they set up a poly house, an agriculture unit, and 100 compost bags on their farms. Through this training, we aim to show them how agricultural diversification can increase their income and contribute to the prosperity of farmers."