India’s largest horticulture event, five-days long National Horticulture Fair was held on February 8-12, 2021 at Hesaraghatta, Bengaluru on the theme “Horticulture:For start-up and stand-up India”.
It was organized by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR)-Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) in collaboration with, ICAR-ATARI, Bengaluru, Society for Promotion of Horticulture, Bengaluru, BESST-HORT Technology Business Incubator, ICAR-IIHR, Bengaluru, Sri Sri Institute of Agricultural Sciences & Technology Trust, Bengaluru and National Horticulture Board, Gurugram.
- The fair was held both in physical and virtual formats for the first time.
- The virtual event was inaugurated by Minister of State (MoS) Kailash Choudhry, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmer Welfare (MoA&FW).
- It showcased cutting edge technologies, crop varieties, pest and disease management practices and processing methods among others.
- Dr. T. Mohapatra released a mobile app ‘Árka Vyapar’ developed in collaboration with the Society for Promotion of Horticulture to connect buyers and sellers of horticulture produce and products.
Aim of Fair:
To increase farmers’ incomes by turning horticulture into a business enterprise especially in the wake of the recent trend of educated youth taking to farming.
–IIHR signs MoU with four firms to commercialise its technologies
IIHR signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with four private companies on commercialization of IIHR technologies.
- The four firms are Rainbow Agro Vet Seri Technologies of Andhra Pradesh, P J Margo from Bengaluru, Greentech Fertilizer Corporation from Thiruvananthapuram and La Ferme De Peter LLP of Chennai.
–IIHR develops chilli hybrids resistant to leaf curl virus
Scientists at the IIHR Bengaluru have developed leaf curl virus (LCV)-resistant chilli hybrids, first in India. LCV disease is the most destructive disease faced by chilli growers in terms of incidence and yield loss.
- It is transmitted by the whiteflies and in the affected plants causes the leaf to get curled and rolled resulting in stunted growth.
- The hybrids are developed through the conventional breeding method after screening the germ plasm from different locations.
Additional Info:
–The chilli seed market is estimated at over 150 tonnes per annum with value around Rs 400 crore.
–India’s chilli exports in value terms stood at Rs 4,840 crore during 2019-20, an increase 3.3% over i.e. Rs 4,685 crore in FY19.
–In volume terms, chilli exports were estimated at 6.22 lakh tonnes over previous year’s 5.41 lakh tonnes.
Recent Related News:
i.On January 19, 2021, the state government of Gujarat is all set for the formation of ‘Mukhyamantri Bagayat Vikas Mission’ or ‘Horticulture Development Mission’ to accelerate agriculture, horticulture and promote farming of herbal plants in the state.
ii.Asian Development Bank (ADB) & Government of India (GoI) signed USD 10 Million Project Readiness Financing (PRF) to help finance piloting activities, project for expanding horticulture production & farm household income in Himachal Pradesh.
