From Our Special Correspondent
Daijiworld Media Network
Bengaluru, Feb 5: A five-day National Horticulture Fair 2021 will be held at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR), a premier Research Institute on Horticultural crop, in Hesaraghatta in Bengaluru from February 8 to 12.
IIHR Director Dr M R Dinesh, Principal Scientist and Organizing Secretary of NHF and Dr M V Dhananjaya, Principal Scientist IIHR and Dr B Narayanaswamy, Principal Scientist IIHR, said the fair with the slogan ‘Horticulture for Start-Up and Stand-Up India’ is being held both online and offline event due to Covid-19 pandemic.
Farmers are allowed to attend the five days event through the online and offline and physical entry of the participants will be restricted to 30,000 when Covid pandemic protocol will be followed.
Through KrishiVijnana Kendra's across the country will facilitate the farmers to participate in the virtual fair. Farmers can go to nearby KVKs, after registering their names, they can participate in five days of virtual NHF.
All 721 KVKs of 11 Ataris will arrange the farmers to attend virtual NHF and 211 live demonstrations will be showcased at NHF. Even IIHR has facilitated the farmers to interact with the scientists of IIHR through online. Interaction with scientists will help the farmers to get information on crop related issues.
Virtual preparations have been made across the country to webcast the programme in the premises of KVK/FPO/SSIAST centers of art of living foundation/agricultural training centers of respective state governments.
Interested farmers, entrepreneurs and other stake holders are requested to register in the NHF 2021 website https://nhf2021.iihr.res.in and participate in the programme through virtual mode.
The salient activities of national horticultural fair will be exhibition of stalls from public and private sectors, live demonstrations of improved varieties and technologies, farmers-entrepreneurs-scientists’ interactions, sale of seeds, planting material and products from ICAR-IIHR and other public and private firms for benefit of end users.
Horticulture as Industry
IIHR has taken steps to encourage farmers to take up horticulture as industry. Due to consecutive droughts farmers are in distress and lost their crops. IIHR has taken initiative to promote the farmers to take up horticulture as entrepreneurship. Scientists will guide the farmers about crop patterns, disease management, soil management and procurement of the seeds.
By showcasing live demonstrations about horticulture crops at Hesaraghatta campus, encouraging farmers to take up horticulture as industry. Besides, IIHR has also showcasing technologies developed by it in the NHR.
Integrated Farming System
IIHR is also promoting farmers to take up integrated farming system along with main crop. If a farmers growing mangos, in mango field he can grow vegetables. By taking integrated farming, farmers have an ample opportunity to double their income. During NHF, live demonstration on integrated farming system developed by IIHR will be shown to the farmers.
Online Seed Portal
IIHR started Online Seed Portal on May 2020, with a span of 8 months, IIHR has sold over Rs. 70 lakh worth seed to the farmers across the Country.
Through online seed portal, IIHR has supplied 40 varieties of vegetable and flower seeds to the farmers of across the Country. IIHR has entered an agreement with farmers to take up through seed village concept, by procuring seeds from the farmers, it has been sold through online seed portal to the farmers on affordable price.
The institute is presently working on 54 horticultural crops (13 fruits, 26 vegetables,10 flowers and 5 medicinal crops) and released nearly 300 varieties, commercialized 80 technologies to 400 firms with 800 licenses. Besides providing commercial licenses for technologies, ICAR-IIHR has also a vibrant Horti-business incubation centre since 2013 that has created more than 40 start-ups with incubation facility and services to nine incubatees so far.
The institute is contributing more than Rs 13000 crore annually to the horticulture sector in the country. The Institute is involved in first line transfer of technology for dissemination of information and technologies and trained more than 6000 personnel so far.
Apart from training a huge number of farmers, farm women and private entrepreneurs, some of the innovative extension methods like mobile messaging, farmers’ field schools and employing techno-agents for promotion of sustainable horticultural activities, video conferencing for training, interactive meets, radio and TV programs, lab to land, MeraGaonMeraGuarav and Farmers FIRST have been successfully employed by this institute to disseminate and update information to farmers and entrepreneurs.
As part of dissemination efforts, the ICAR-IIHR regularly conducts state and national horticultural fairs, melas, exhibitions, seminars and symposia for the benefit of farmers and entrepreneurs as well. Basically, these programmes are aimed at knowledge sharing innovations in horticulture by showcasing technologies and demonstrations, providing common platform to the service providers for interaction with the farming communities.
ICAR-IIHR has developed package of practices for some of the feasible crops on organic horticulture and good agriculture practices to ensure both quantity and quality of horticultural products with a major thrust on safeguarding soil health and ensuing pesticide free commodities.
IIHR listed varieties
Recently released varieties/ technologies will also be displayed in NHF-2021
• ‘ArkaPoorna’ a new guava variety in white pulp segment
• Leaf curl resistant chilli hybrid ‘ArkaGagan’
• Gummy stem blight resistant bottle gourd hybrid ‘Arka Ganga’
• CMS based marigold hybrids with high carotene content
• ‘Arka Shyam’ a new variety in watermelon for ice box segment
• Online seed portal, SBI Krishiyono
• ‘ArkaHerbi wash’ an organic based product for pesticides free fruits and
vegetables.