The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Fruit farming drive begins

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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Fruit farming drive begins

Special Correspondent

New focus: Agriculture Minister Mullakara Ratnakaran plants a sapling in the city on Friday to inaugurate Phalasree, a State-wide campaign to promote cultivation of fruit trees.

Thiruvananthapuram: The Department of Agriculture has launched a State-wide campaign to promote cultivation of fruit trees.

Named ‘Phalasree,’ the project involves planting of one lakh saplings all over the State.

Minister for Agriculture Mullakara Ratnakaran inaugurated the campaign here on Friday by planting a mango sapling on the premises of the Karshaka Bhavan coming up near the World Market at Anayara. Department officials also planted saplings of various fruit trees.

Museum of fruit crops

Mr. Ratnakaran called on the officials to set an example by planting and maintaining the saplings themselves.

Agriculture Production Commissioner K. Jayakumar and Agriculture Secretary Devendrakumar Dhodavath were present.

The department has also announced plans to create a museum of fruit crops on the three-acre campus of the Karshaka Bhavan at Anayara.

Exotic variants

The museum will have 25 varieties of mango and four types of jackfruit besides endemic and exotic species like guava, gooseberry, orange, apple, papaya, sapota, west Indian cherry, breadfruit, grapefruit, seethapazham, durian, velvet apple, lichi, peach, avocado and apricot.

The department has plans to introduce the crops to the public and impart education to farmers about the scientific cultivation of each species.

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