Director Agriculture, A.K.Malhotra, flagged off a group of 45 farmers belonging to different districts of Jammu Division for an Inter-State Exposure Visit outside State from Krishi Bhawan, Talab-Tillo, Jammu, today.The farmers group will participate in Kisan Mela at KVK Nagkalan, Amritsar besides field visits to Bee Keeping Research Station, Organic Farming, Drip Irrigation Units, Rain Water Harvesting Structures, Protected Cultivation of Vegetables and Mushroom Units of Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidhalaya, (CSKHPKV) Palampur. The group will also see the Tissue Culture Techniques of Bamboo and Medicinal Plants at CSIR’s Institute of Himalayan Bio-resource Technology (IHBT) Palampur.Speaking on the occasion, the Director impressed upon the farmers to interact extensively with the experts and scientists of the institutions they will be visiting for enhancing their knowledge in the field. He said that the main aim of the tour was to acquaint the farmers with latest techniques, methods, approaches, machinery and inputs being utilized for increasing production of various crops through protected cultivation, organic farming, vegetable cultivation, mushroom production, post-harvest technology and marketing. The visit is being organized under Sub-Mission on Agriculture Extension (SMAE) with an objective of acquainting the farmers with latest technology in the field of agriculture especially in vegetable production, mushroom cultivation and diversification of farming to help achieve the target of doubling the income of farmers by 2022. Joint Director Agriculture (Extension) H. K. Razdan, Deputy Director of Agriculture (Central), , C. M Sharma, Deputy Director of Agriculture (Trainings), Bulesh Zutshi, CAOs R. K. Hiteshi and Sunil Koul, SMS (RL), Surinder Misri, Agriculture Chemist, R. K. Bindroo and other senior officers were also present on the occasion.