Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram   

Agriculture festival a big draw

POPULAR FAIR: Visitors to the fair at one of the sales counters at the exhibition in Neyyattinkara.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Declaring support to the farming community, the College of Agriculture, Vellayani of the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU), has arranged an agricultural fair at the Government Boys’ Higher Secondary School, Neyyattinkara.

Christened as ‘Karshikolsavam – 07’ the seven-day fair is attracting large number of farmers, small entrepreneurs and other sections. About 5,000 people belonging to various sections are visiting the stalls every day to get to know about the latest developments in the divergent areas related to agriculture.

Agriculture Minister Mullakkara Rathnakaran, who inaugurated the fair on Monday, emphasised the need for recapturing the lost glory of agriculture. This could be achieved by increasing production and assuring premium price for agricultural commodities, he said.

The Minister also solicited the dedicated services of the agricultural officers for the betterment of the farmers’ conditions. A farmer-friendly Agricultural Expert System Software ‘Agriexpert’ for identification of major pest and disease of the State was released at the function. V.J.Thankappan, MLA, presided over the function. V.S. Hareendranath, chairman of the organising committee and member of the KAU Executive Committee, welcomed the gathering.

Presenting an outline of the Karshikolsavam -07, Dean of the college and general convener of the organising committee K.Harikrishnan Nair said the fair had been arranged to highlight innovative technologies developed by KAU on different aspects of Agriculture.

Over 100 stalls had been arranged as part of the fair, and they unravel latest developments in a variety of areas like soil testing, rice and tuber crops, fruit plants and vegetables, plantation crops, ornamental plants, medicinal plants, organic farming, agri-meteorology and bio-technology. Agri-clinics and agri-information kiosks also form part of the fair.

Numerous State and Central government agencies such as the Agriculture Department, Animal Husbandry Department, Soil Survey Department, Kerala Livestock Development Board, Vegetable and Fruits Promotion Council, Coconut Development Board, Spices Board, Tropical Botanical Garden and Research Institute, Central Tuber Crops and Research Institute are participating in the fair. Financial institutions such as the State Bank of India, Union Bank of India and Indian Overseas Bank have also put up their stalls, Dr Nair said.

Seminars and ‘open forums’ on a host of topics have also been arranged as part of the fair.

Sale of quality planting materials and publications at the counter put up by the University is another attraction. Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan will inaugurate the concluding session to be held on December 30. Labour Minister P.K. Gurudasan and Deputy Leader of the Opposition G. Karthikeyan are expected to attend.

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