During the National Horticulture Fair 2021, the Central Horticultural Experiment Station (ICAR-IIHR), Bhubaneswar organized training programs and exposure visits for the farmers, SHGs and extension functionaries of Odisha between 8th to 12th February 2021. More than 800 farmers and other stakeholders from different districts of the State attending the program were exposed to horticultural technologies through virtual mode and field exposure visits.
The Directorate of Horticulture, Govt. of Odisha sponsored more than 300 farmers from 15 districts to participate in National Horticulture Fair conducted virtually at CHES (ICAR-IIHR), Bhubaneswar and expose them to feasible horticultural technologies for the region. Participation of around 300 farmers was facilitated through the externally-funded projects operational at the Station. The participants joining the live telecast of the NHF 2021 program from ICAR-IIHR through Zoom app got acquainted with the recent developments in the field of horticulture across the country. Technological videos were shown to elucidate technologies of ICAR-IIHR including technologies developed at CHES (ICAR-IIHR), Bhubaneswar. During the field visits performance of promising varieties of fruits and vegetables including ARKA varieties, genetic diversity in leafy vegetable, beans, mango, pineapple, pointed gourd, underutilized fruit crops, canopy management in fruit crops, high density plantation of mango, intercropping system in fruit crops, crop cafeteria, dragon fruit cultivation, vegetable grafting technique, plant protection measures, organic unit, ethylene gas-induced fruit ripening and hot water treatment of fruits were demonstrated to participants. Interactive sessions on daily basis were organized to address the queries of the participating farmers, stakeholders and other beneficiaries.
Significance of Arka Vyapar app and IIHR Seed Portal was highlighted among participants every day. Live online demonstration on the use of Seed Portal was conducted during the interactive sessions. Farmers also visited the exhibition stalls arranged to display the activities, achievements, and success stories of externally aided projects like RKVY-Post harvest, RKVY- S&T, MIDH-SEEDs, RKVY-Virus indexing, Tribal Sub Plan, MIDH-Pine apple, etc. operational at the Station and display of fresh vegetables, plants of IIHR varieties, and other IIHR products. The Zone 5 live telecast program was graced by the Additional Director and Deputy Directors, Directorate of Horticulture, and Additional DCP, Bhubaneswar.
The program was organized under the guidance of Dr. G C Acharya, Head I/c with support of scientific, technical, administrative, supporting and contractual staff. Dr. P Srinivas and Dr. Satya Singh coordinated the virtual display of NHF proceedings, screening of technological videos, interactive sessions and technology exhibitions. Dr. Kundan Kishore and Dr. G. Sangeetha coordinated venue development, field demonstrations, exposure visits and registration, respectively with the help of Dr. Deepa Samant and Dr. Meenu Kumari, Sh. C.S. Durga, Sh Abhra Ghosh and Sh. B. K. Mallik. Dr. Manas Sahoo coordinated the arrangement of food and refreshment for participants. Sh. S. Majhi, Sh. A, Das, Sh. P. C. Majhi, Sh. Manoj Patnaik, Mrs. Suchitra Behera, Sh B. C. Patra coordinated the field visits of farmers with the help of Sh. Paikarey, Sh. H. Bindhani, Sh. G. C. Sundaray and other supporting staff. More than 40 adhoc project personnel volunteered for helping the visiting farmers and organizing the event.
Appropriate COVID protocols were followed during the program.
