It was a good news for all the fruit lovers that the State level Fruit Festival-2013 kicked off at the Adivasi Ground here in the city for four days. The State Agriculture department organised the festival for the second time in the State which was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on May 19 last.
A total of 2,912 farmers from all over the State participated in the festival to exhibit different varieties of fruits. last year as many as 2,305 farmers had turned up, said Assistant Horticulture Officer Dr Sushant Ranjan Das.
In the festival, 27 types of fruits, including mangoes, bananas, pineapples, litchis, oranges, mandarins, cashews, dates, wood apples, apples, bels, palmyrahs, different types of wild berries and fruits etc. were showcased.
A total of 67 varieties of mangos like Aakhurasa, Sundari, Aamrapali, Mallika, Himsagar, Kanchakhai and Godabari etc were also exhibited in the fruit festival.
School-going girl Tejaswini Panda, who had come to the festival with her father, said, “ I can see different types of mangoes and fruits, pickles, jelly and I came to know that such a wide varieties of fruits exist in Odisha.”
laxma Durua, a farmer of Malkanagir, said that in the exhibition the farmers can showcase their products directly to the consumers.
He displayed two types of mangoes such as Aamrapali and Dasheri. He revealed that he had taken up his plantation under the supervision of NABARD.
Another farmer from Dhenkanal Arun Panda said, “Through exhibitions, we came to know about the new technology of different types of farming as new technology and machines are showcased in many stalls here.” Panda displayed four varieties of mangoes, including hybrid variety weighing three to four kg per one mango.
A denizen of Bhubaneswar RK Mohapatra said the arrangement of the fruit festival is very good and different varieties of mangos are the centre of attraction here.
Organiser Sushant Ranjan Das said the objective of organising the exhibition is to make the people aware of local products of fruits.
The people of urban area can know about different types of fruits and at the same time, the farmers can know about different technologies of production, he added.
The exhibition was made more colourful by cultural functions including Gotipua dance and tribal folk dances etc. Drawing and banana eating competition will be held in the festival ahead, said sources.