Bengaluru: The Organics and Millets International Trade Fair 2019 will be inaugurated at Palace Grounds on Saturday by Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy.
Briefing media persons on the details of the event, Agriculture Minister N. H. Shivashankara Reddy said, “The three-day fair will be the biggest of its kind. This event will help spread the message of how millets are good for us, good for our farmers and good for the planet.”
He said a few decades ago, millets was the staple food in several parts of Karnataka, but later they lost popularity. However, over the last few years we are witnessing a comeback of millets. With health awareness spreading across urban areas, there is a rising demand for millets, the minister added.
This fair will have a total number of 400 booths, including 220 exhibitors participating from ten states across the country and 23 food courts.
The participating states include Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Manipur, Kerala and Telangana.
There will be international participation from seven countries including Chile, Poland, Sri Lanka, Burkina Faso, UAE, IFOAM, Germany and FIBL, Switzerland. Sixteen startup firms will also take part in the fair.
Agriculture Department Commissioner Dr K.G. Jagadeesha said, “Farmers in Karnataka often face deficient rainfall and difficulty in growing crops. Many farmers opt for rice cultivation as there is high demand. But if we compare millets to rice, millets require almost 70% less water, no pesticides and minimal or no chemical fertilizers making them the most environment friendly crop.”
He expressed happiness that the area under organic cultivation has registered a steady growth in the State increasing from 2500 hectares to 100,000 hectares as on date. The Government’s aim is to increase this to around 1.5 lakh hectares in the coming three years, he added.
One of the prime focus areas of the fair would be B2B sessions that will be organized on all the three days. Around 85 farmer groups representing 15 regional federations, FPOs and other farmer groups have registered for the event.
There will also be a Farmers Workshop in Kannada on all the three days.
