‘Vegetable village Bugam’ in Budgam caters vegetable needs of whole Kashmir

Manzar Abbas Mir

Budgam, 21 Dec: Bugam, a village in central Kashmir’s Budgam district is known for producing vegetables to cater to the needs of people throughout the valley.

18 Kms away from the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, the village is famous all over Jammu and Kashmir for producing a large number of vegetables throughout the year.

During the lockdown, as everything was shut due to pandemic in the union territory, the farmers here used to spend all the time in the fields to produce more quantities of vegetables, with the motive to reach the maximum number of people.

In the month of April & May, when there was a shortage of food in different parts of the valley, ahead of the lockdown in wake of COVID-19, the vegetable growers here used to load dozens of load carriers with vegetable items, to send them to different vegetable markets of the valley, which had given good benefits to the people.

One of the vegetable growers namely Feroz Ahmad Rather has said that their economy mostly depends on these vegetable fields, due to which they work hard throughout the year to produce a good quantity.

“My income mostly rely on my vegetable farm of six Kanals, as I work hard to produce different kinds of vegetables here. If I work throughout a year on my vegetable farm, I can earn 2 to 3 lacs comfortably. Besides that it helps me to educate my children as well,” he told Arising State.

The adjoining villages of Bugam are also producing a large number of vegetables, which goes to various markets of the valley, thereby helping people to earn their livelihood.

Younis Ahmad, a 25-year-old graduate said: “Our village does Rs 10 crore to Rs 15 crore business annually by supplying vegetables to various parts of J&K and also to other parts of the country.”

He said that if the government and agriculture departments will provide assistance to the farmers, they can produce double the number of vegetables as compared to the existing quantity.

Sources said that around 385 hectares of the land area is used for the cultivation of different kinds of vegetables in Bugam and its adjoining villages, which mostly include Onion and Potato.

“Not only in Kashmir, but we also sell our vegetables in other parts of India as well by exporting them to the cities like Punjab & Delhi,” said Manzoor Parray, a 58-year-old resident of Bugam, adding “it becomes possible for us to produce a large quantity of vegetables and fruits by using technologies that are available in the market.”

Another grower said that “at least 30 to 35 trucks are being loaded everyday here to supply different kinds of vegetables and other food-related items to the markets, ‘Mandis’ of the Union Territory, & other parts of the country.”

The growers have demanded that there should be no black marketing in this field and their vegetables must be sold at affordable rates everywhere.

It’s pertinent to mention here that Kashmir has a unique distinction in producing fruits and vegetables like onion, Potato, and Apples which are famous throughout the world.