Fruit lovers in town can look forward to the opportunity of checking out and purchasing number of apple varities in different categories in addition to viewing varied apple-based products by private companies based in different parts of India.
As part of efforts aimed at providing a fillip to apple among winter-yield fruits, the State horticulture department will be organising the national apple festival — seminar and exhibition in Dehradun on September 17-18.
This national level apple fest with the deliberations and exhibition will be inaugurated by chief minister Harish Rawat on Saturday (September 17) at Kisan Bhawan Raipur ring road with state horticulture minister Pritam Singh Panwar presiding over the function here, said the state director of horticulture and Bagwani mission BS Negi.
The horticulture director informed that the two-day programme will be attended by a range of participants including academic, research and development institutions, apple cultivators and groups of producers along with officials of government departments. Scientists and experts from Central Institute of Temperate Horticulture, Sriniagar (Jammu and Kashmir), university of horticulture and forestry, Arunachal Pradesh, National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, at Nainital in Uttarakhand, national horticulture board, Palampur Agriculture university of himachal Pradesh, universities of forestry and horticulture from Himachal Pradesh, Garhwal and Udham Singh Nagar regions of Uttarakhand, department officials and various apple growers association members will be delivering lectures on various aspects of the cultivation of apple.
Presentations will also be made on nursery management, production techniques, post-harvest management, marking and latest processing techniques. In addition to this, the enterprise Rajat Nishant Biotech India, Vilaspur, Himachal Pradesh and Indo-Dutch Horticulture Technology, Nainital will also deliver presentations on their work towards qualitative improvement in plant cultivation related material and other aspects on the occasion.
The horticulture director further informed that the apple exhibition slated to be organised during the two-day event will have number of apple varieties grown by the apple cultivators categorized into 11 categories and apple-based processed food items.
The processed items made from apple by private companies will be put on display under six categories. Apart from apple growers of Uttarakhand, cultivators from other states including Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and
Arunachal Pradesh will also be participating in the event with their respective products. The horticulture director has also appealed to the public to derive maximum benefit from the two-day seminar and exhibition by visiting it.