For horticulture farmers with an eye for technology, the exhibition organised as part of the four-day Global Conference on Banana, currently underway in the city, should serve as a one-stop shop to glean all the latest scientific information and best agricultural practices.
Banana, as to be expected, hogs centre stage at the exhibition. As one enters the exhibition, a couple of giant size banana bunches strike the eye. Grown by G.Nathar Meeran, a progressive farmer and agro entrepreneur from Theni, the huge bunches stand nearly six feet in height and weigh 81 and 83 kg respectively.
The genial Mr.Meeran, who has previously bagged the best progressive farmer award from the NRCB, explains how he has successfully adopted the tissue culture technique and other technical inputs given by NRCB and other institutes to raise the Grand Naine variety banana bunches, which have 16 hands and over 300 fruits each. “All farmers can adopt these practices if only they show interest in adopting latest technologies and farm practices,” he observes. Despite his ability to absorb the scientific inputs, he concedes to facing difficulties in post harvest handling of the fruits. ‘We are midway, we got to move to the next stage with the help of research institutions,” he says.
Rich and diverse information is on store at the other stalls covering various aspects of banana cultivation, including micro irrigation systems, post harvest handling, storage and value added products derived from banana. The various stages of post harvest handling and storage including the process of ripening cold storage, which could help extend the shelf life of banana up to a month, are explained in detail with exhibits. Machines for producing banana value added products including banana fibre extractor are also on display by research institutions and voluntary organisations.
Banana, the exhibition also provides an overview of the latest technological advances and scientific inputs on several other horticulture crops too, says R.Selvarajan, Virologist, NRCB, and chairman of the exhibition committee. Apart from the National Research Centre on Banana (NRCB), which hosts the conference along with the Association for Improvement in Production and Utilisation of Banana, the Indian Institute of Horticulture Research, Directorate of Oil Palm, Central Tuber Corps Research Institute, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, and Coconut Development Board have set shop at the exhibition.
There is a wealth of information for general visitors too as the stalls throw light on some exotic recipes for dishes made from tubers and vegetables and other food/agro products. For instance, interested visitors could even learn how to extract oil directly from coconut flesh with out drying it up.
The exhibition will be open till Monday at Hotel Sangam, the venue of the conference, in the city.
