The National Horticulture Fair 2024 ends up with a grand success

Bengaluru, 07 March: The three days long National Horticulture Fair 2024 held at ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru from 5th March 2024 concluded today with the gracious presence of Sushri Shobha Karandlaje, Union Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Govt. of India. Smt. Jiksy Raphael, DGM, NABARD, Smt. Rohini Sindhuri, IAS, Special Secretary, Food Processing & Harvest Technology, Govt. of Karnataka, Ramesh D.S. IAS, Director of Horticulture, Govt. of Karnataka, Dr V.B. Patel, ADG (Fruits &Plantation Crops), ICAR, New Delhi were the guests of honour for the valedictory program.

Horticultural production surpasses food grains: Sushri Shobha Karandlaje in her address opined that the farmers are excited to see the fruit, vegetable, flower and medicinal crops/varieties demonstrated and wish to grow these crops/varieties in their own gardens. After independence, the country witnessed a transformation from food grain deficit to surplus production, through the era of green revolution. Moreover, the horticultural crop production (351 million MT) surpassed the food grain production (330 million MT), contributing to the country’s nutritional security, with the continued support from the farming community, scientists and policymakers. 

Adoption of climate-resilient crops: She also emphasized on adoption of climate-resilient crop varieties and technologies, to equip the farmers in sustaining production under adverse climatic conditions. With an increasing demand for Indian produce in the global market, she urged the farmers to focus on value addition, to capture the international demand. 

Various central schemes: She also mentioned the various central government schemes and financial support, available such as soil and plant health testing, tribal support schemes, warehouse and cold storage facilities, Kisan Samman Nidhi, etc., for the benefit of farmers and women empowerment. 

Concerns about the rejections: She expressed her concerns about the rejections of our exported commodities due to pesticide residues and the need to create awareness among the farmers. Further, she emphasized the use of advanced technologies like drones for input application, and the adoption of high-yielding varieties and high-density planting systems in perennial fruit and plantation crops for making farming more profitable. While concluding, Sushri Karndlaje congratulated the director, scientists and staff of ICAR-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bengaluru for successfully organizing the fair.

Consistently every year: Smt. Jiksy Raphael, the guest of honour congratulated the institute for organizing the horticulture fair consistently every year, especially in virtual mode even during the pandemic period and appreciated the continued collaboration with NABARD in research and extension.

70,000 visitors: Dr Prakash Patil, Director (Acting), ICAR-IIHR welcomed the gathering. While briefing about the fair, Dr M.V. Dhananjaya, Organizing Secretary, NHF 2024 mentioned that over 70,000 visitors (including farmers, entrepreneurs, students and enthusiasts) from 22 states participated in the fair, wherein about 71 % of farmers were from Karnataka, 13% of from Tamil Nadu, 6% from Andhrapradesh, 5% from Telangana, and rest 16 % from other states. 

234 institutions: The exhibition stalls from various public and private institutions totalling 234, including 4 Horticultural universities, 18 KVKs, etc. During the fair, 23 progressive horticulture farmers, 5 FPOs, 5 KVK officials and 4 entrepreneurs were felicitated, considering their invaluable contributions to the wide-spread extension and adoption of the institute technologies. 

Best stall awards: Further, 20 exhibition stalls were presented with ‘Best Stall awards’ under the categories viz., ICAR Institutes; KVK, AICRP & SAUs; State departments; Digital agriculture; Seed companies & inputs; Incubators & Start-ups; Small-scale units; Food processing and packaging; Organic farming and Nurseries.

Service providers felicitated: The various service providers such as police, law and order (3 nos.), traffic police (4 nos.), fire safety service (2 nos.), Ambulance service (1 no.), and the event partner ‘Event up’ were also felicitated for their continued support extended during the fair. 

248 cutting-edge technologies in 10 languages: During the concluding program, two publications on ‘Quick response (QR) codes for ICAR-IIHR Developed Technologies’, a compilation of 248 cutting edge technologies of the institute in 10 languages and ‘Cocoponics: A futuristic soilless vegetable production system’ were released by the dignitaries. Further, two MoUs with ‘IIIT, Sricity, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh’ and ‘Tancoir, Government of Tamil Nadu’ were also exchanged during the program.

22 states: The three-day fair witnessed over 75,000 footfalls from about 22 states of the country. The wide publicity through various print, electronic and social media platforms could largely help in mobilizing the stakeholders, making the event a grand success. 

Government and private organizations: The fair was organized with financial assistance from various government and private organizations such as ICAR- Directorate of Knowledge Management in Agriculture (DKMA), Department of Horticulture, Karnataka, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL), Directorate Horticulture and Farm Forestry, Chhattisgarh, Bihar Horticulture Department, Telangana Horticulture Department Zentron labs Pvt Ltd, Syngenta, Jain Irrigation Systems Ltd. etc.

The program was concluded with words of thanks by Dr. S. Sriram, Head, Division of Crop Protection, ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru.

Inputs courtesy: Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), Hesaraghatta Bengaluru.