views
BHUBANESWAR: From fist-size, ripe yellow Dasheharis to the exotic Sindhus, the sweet aroma of mangoes filled the air at the State-level Fruit Festival at Exhibition Ground here.Visitors were seen whole of Sunday at the Festival where several local and exotic varieties of mangoes and other fruits were displayed. Organised by the Horticulture Department, the exhibition-cum-sale is an annual event to encourage farmers to take up horticulture.Nearly 87 varieties of mangoes under commercial, hybrid and elite categories, were put up for display. This apart, there were two litchi, seven banana, as many jack-fruit and 12 citrus fruit varieties on display. A total of 75 kiosks had been set up.The prize-winning mangoes and other products such as green mango squash, jam, hot, sour and sweet pickle, fruit pulp, ambula (dried mango) and processed fruit products were lined up in plastic and glass bottles. A jury, including horticulturists and experts in agricultural technology, rated the various varieties of mangoes and other fruits on Saturday.“I have won prizes in the fruit jam, ambula and mango slices categories. The Fruit Festival would give a boost to the fruit cultivators and traders,” said Dibyaranjan Satapathy from the canning centre of the Horticulture Department at Kendrapara. A banana eating competition for kids and elders was also organised. Dhenkanal-based Kapilas Horticulture Growers Cooperative Ltd which set up a stall selling only Amrapalli and Mallika varieties of mangoes, did a business of over Rs 30,000 on the inaugural day on Saturday. “No carbide was used to ripen the mangoes as a result of which natural sweetness of the fruit was intact,” said Krishna, the salesperson at the stall.Earlier, while inaugurating the two-day festival, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had said post-harvest horticultural products from Odisha were doing brisk business in metros and fruit-based products were becoming very popular. With better packaging, marketing and good returns, the horticultural sector can flourish well.Principal Secretary, Agriculture, Rangalal Jamuda said of the 64 lakh hectares of cultivable land in Odisha, 25 lakh are in the upland category, more suitable for horticulture. More than 200 watershed projects had received a nod from the Centre and over 10 lakh hectares would soon be used for horticulture, he said.
Comments
0 comment