The Coimbatore District Small Industries Association (Codissia) will conduct its annual agriculture fair “Agri Intex” 2019 here from July 12 to 15.
The event at Codissia Trade Fair Complex will focus on implements and technologies that can be used by small and medium-scale farmers.
According to N. Krishnaraj, chairman of the event, as many as 450 companies will take part. Nearly 10 participants are overseas companies. The exhibition will have a pavilion to showcase rainwater harvesting and check dam models and some of these are eligible for subsidy from the Government. The challenges faced by the farming sector currently are labour and water shortage. The farmers need tools and technologies to overcome these challenges.
Most of the land holdings in India are small scale. Agriculture on small plots should also be encouraged. Companies from Korea and Japan will exhibit products that will enable small-scale farming. A group of companies from China are visiting the expo on July 13 and they are looking at joint venture opportunities. The Association is working to see if the proposals can be taken forward, he said. Dairy farming is another focus area of the event.
R. Ramamurthi, president of Codissia, told presspersons that the expo is expected to generate ₹200 crore business. Coimbatore is a hub of micro, small and medium-scale enterprises and these units have opportunities to tap in the farming sector by developing implements for farmers. The event will have a demonstration plot on sustainable farming and a conference, Uzhave Uyarvu, will be organised on July 13. It will be inaugurated by Minister for Agriculture R. Doraikkannu and Minister for Municipal Administration S.P. Velumani. A conference on “Next Generation Dairying” will be held on July 14.
N. Kumar, the Vice-Chancellor of Tamil Nadu Agriculture University, said the University will display new varieties and technologies at the exhibition. It will create awareness on agri business. “A lot of non-agri graduates are attracted to farming. We conduct courses for them through open education. These details will also be available at the expo,” he said. “This year, water is a challenge in many areas even for drinking purpose. We need to focus on water. As the number of rainy days reduce, we need to plan and manage water,” he added.
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