Overwhelming response to horticulture fair on day 2

Bengaluru: Over 8000 people and farmers visited the National Horticulture Fair (NHF) 2021 on second day on Tuesday, held at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) situated in Hesarghatta here.

According to sources in NHF, by Tuesday afternoon, nearly 6,000 people visited the exhibition and another two to three thousand were expected to arrive by the end of the day.

Dr M.R. Dinesh, Director, IIHR said, "People response was overwhelming. They visited our live demonstrations at field and stalls. Our scientists at field gave necessary information to the general public and the farmers about horticulture crops, fruits and flowers developed by the IIHR."

Officials deputed at the registration counter had herculean task managing the crowd. They allowed the public inside after conducting Covid -19 protocol.

Farmers visited live demonstration sites, received first-hand information on IIHR horticulture crops. They were left perplexed by new varieties of tomato, bottle gourd, ridge gourd and pumpkin and new verities of flower at demonstration sites.

Farmers were seen gathering information from IIHR scientists on cultivation of horticulture crops and enquired about seeds developed by IIHR.

IIHR released new varieties of tomato, Arka Abhed, Arka Tulasi Chilly, Arka Sangam, Watermelon and other crops.

On the second day, the technical session was organized for farmers of Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, Hariyana and Uttar Pradesh. ICAR scientists from across the country attended the session through online and answered the queries of the farmers.

Questions taken from the farmers prior to NHF were sent to the scientists and experts in horticulture crops. Through online, answers were given to the farmers. IIHR showcased the live demonstrations to the farmers about its verities of horticulture crops and success stories of the farmers.

IIHR Director Dr M.R.Dinesh, IIHR principal scientists Dr Anil Kumar Nair, Dr Rajive Kumar, Dr Anjanikumar Jha were presented at the technical session.