Kotagiri: The two-day ‘Annual Vegetable Show’, 10th edition this summer, got
underway at the Nehru Park at Kotagiri hills here on Saturday.
While the vegetable art, sculpture and exhibition stole the show, Mr Vellamandi N. Natarajan, Minister for Tourism, who inaugurated the show, forced the media and audience to wait for a long time as he arrived three hours behind schedule, for the formal inauguration.
The vegetable show, a tourism promotion event in Kotagiri about 25
kilometres off Ooty town, this year saw exhibitors from five other districts, besides the host Nilgiris. In the past, exhibitors from 10-12 districts used to participate.
While the display for vegetables was as usual, the vegetable art has
turned out to be a stellar tourist attraction in the show.
A giant “Vegetable Nandi” (bull) sculptured out of 500-kg of Brinjal erected upon a capsicum pedestal was the major charm in the show.
Besides this, the vegetable car, vegetable Barbie girl and vegetable
structures like the dolphin made out of green chillies, replica of
Adhi Thiruvarangam Sri Ranganathar statue made out of carrots and pumpkin, teddy bear sculptured out of raddish, beetroot and cabbage, vegetable fish made out of pumpkin and carrot and replica of butterfly made out of different vegetables added extra attraction to the show.
Horticulture departments from Coimbatore, Villupuram, Dindigul, Theni and Dharmapuri districts donned the role of exhibitors showcasing the vegetable wealth of their respective districts.
Various stalls put up by private organizations showcased the importance of organic farming, hill vegetable culture and tradition.
Saying that vegetable show is both entertaining and educative, Ms Suchitra, a tourist from Chennai, said the vegetable art and the expo on traditional food grains lend special attraction to the show.
