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T hits Horti Expo
T Hits Horti Expo, 24th National Horticultural Expo, People’s Plaza to Nizam College. The shifting of the venue from People’s Plaza to Nizam College, change in the date of the expo (The Expo is usually held from January 26 every year) and political uncertainty in the State have resulted in many regular stall owners giving the 24th National Horticultural Expo a miss.
- Nursery owners from Krishna, East Godavari and West Godavari districts give it a miss
- Shifting of venue from Necklace Road to Nizam College and change in dates make a dent in earnings
- Out of the 218 stalls, 150 are rented out to private parties
- Visitors feel the show has lost its sheen
Hyderabad: The shifting of the venue from People’s Plaza to Nizam College, change in the date of the expo (The Expo is usually held from January 26 every year) and political uncertainty in the State have resulted in many regular stall owners giving the 24th National Horticultural Expo a miss.
It is for the first time that the Horticulture department has put up so many stalls, a whole dome is taken by the department.
Some vendors said that the department had to do this as many regulars had not shown interest owing to political uncertainty prevailing in the State. Out of the 218 stalls, 150 were rented out to private parties and the remaining were stalls of the Horticulture department.
Satish Agarwal of SM Agarwal Traders, Vijayawada, who had been participating in the Expo for the last few years, said, “There are at least five nursery owners from Krishna and East Godavari districts that I know of who have not turned up. People are sceptical of the response and doubt if the show would go on smoothly. We too know the risk and have come.”
The risk was not paying off as the revenues compared to last year were not even 50 per cent on the first day. Lamenting on poor sales, Amar Bhosle of Tukai Exotics from Pune said, “We are almost in summer and the change in date and the venue have affected business. Compared to last year, the sale on the first day is down by 70 per cent.”
The date was postponed by the Horticulture Department as it was not able to finalise the venue. According to a senior official of the department, the delay was because the department was trying for NTR Stadium but it did not succeed.
The department is bringing 1,500 farmers from across the State in buses for the show that will go on till February 17. When the question of many stall owners from other districts not making it this time was posed to Balaji Naik, Deputy Director, Publicity, Horticulture department, he said, “The number of stalls have not reduced and instead have increased from 204 last year to 218 this year.”
Uma Raman, a lawyer, who has been a regular visitor to the Expo, said, “The Expo has lost its sheen. I have been visiting the annual event for the last 10 years but this year it is disappointing. One sees the same old plants. There is nothing new.”
The department officials, however, are upbeat about the Expo. A senior officer said, “It is just the second day. People start coming from the third day.”
The mood of the Expo was best summed up by Younus Khan of Reliable Nursery as he said, “We did not come with great expectation. As we have been a part of the Expo for years we felt we should participate. The state is going through turbulent times but we are still hopeful that people in Hyderabad would turn up in the next few days.”
