A group of 40 farmers belonging to different districts of Jammu Division was flagged off by Director Agriculture Jammu, A. K. Malhotra for an Inter-State Exposure Visit outside State from Krishi Bhawan, Talab-Tillo, Jammu, today.The group includes 10 women farmers who will visit improved agriculture farms and hi-tech labs of Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), Ludhiana, Centre of Excellence for Vegetables (CEV), Kartarpur (Jullander), Dev Sanskriti Vishavavidyalya, Haridwar, Sanji Watershed Neelkanth, Haridwar and Indian Remote Sensing Institute, Central Soil & Water Conservation Research Institute & Forest Research Institute, Dehradun (Uttrakhand) .Speaking on the occasion Director of Agriculture impressed upon farmers to interact extensively with the experts and scientists of the institutions which they will be visiting and get them equipped with the latest knowledge and technical know-how regarding adoption of technology and increasing the production of agricultural crops in their respective areas. He said that the main aim of the tour is to acquaint the farmers with latest techniques, methods, approaches, machinery and inputs being utilized for increasing production of various crops.
Protected Cultivation, organic farming, post-harvest management and marketing are the specific areas being promoted by the institutions like PAU, Ludhiana, Dev Sanskriti Vishavavidyalya, Haridwar, Centre of Excellence for Vegetables, Kartarpur (Punjab) etc.Director Agriculture Jammu said that the visit is being organized under National Mission for Agriculture Extension & Technology (NMAET-ATMA) with the specific objective of acquainting the farmers with latest technology in the field of agriculture especially in Vegetable Production, Seed Production and diversification of farming On the occasion Joint Director Agriculture (Inputs) Sh K. S. Sambyal and Joint Director Agriculture (Extension) Sh H. K. Razdhan also interacted with the farmers and called upon them to acquire the latest knowledge about modern agriculture and diversification of farming which are useful for learning during the Exposure Visit. Bulesh Zutshi, Deputy Director of Agriculture (Trainings), Arun Gupta, Farm Management Specialist and other senior officers of the Farmers Training Centre, Jammu were also present on the occasion.