Kottayam: One of the biggest agricultural fairs in Kerala will open in Kottayam town on Wednesday (May 11) as part of the prize distribution ceremony of Malayala Manorama’s ‘Karshakashree Award’ for 2022. The venue of the event, which will continue till Sunday (May 15), is the Indoor Stadium at Nagampadom.

The fair, which takes place every two years, will have seminars, exhibitions, farmers’ meets and sessions giving tips on agriculture. Farmers as well as people who love agriculture can earn big benefits by attending the programmes.

Award day

The Karshakashree Award for 2022 will be presented to the winner, P Bhuvaneswary of Maruthi Gardens, Elappully in Palakkad, at 4 pm on Friday (May 13). K Krishnankutty, Electricity Minister of Kerala, will preside over the award function while K N Balagopal, Finance Minister of the state, would be the chief guest.

Exhibition

Meanwhile, the agricultural fair would be inaugurated by V N Vasavan, Kerala’s Minister for Cooperatives, at 5.30 pm on Wednesday. Seminars will be held at the venue every day from Thursday (May 12).

At the exhibition, visitors can take a tour of around 100 stalls, put up by Kerala Agricultural and Veterinary Universities; Departments of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries; various government, public sector and private institutions; collectives of farmers and entrepreneurs and cooperative bodies. In fact, a mega shopping fair related to agriculture on fields, farms, gardens and homes awaits visitors. Entry to the event is free.

Seminar schedule

Experts in the respective fields will lead seminars at the event. Topics include kitchen gardens, fruit farming, preparing flower gardens, high-tech farming, animal husbandry, management of pets and rubber cultivation. At the seminars, the audience can not only learn new ideas about farming but also clear their doubts with the experts. Entry to the seminar is also free.

May 12:

10 am: Seminar on ‘Vegetable farming – for health and wealth’. The discussion will focus on how healthy vegetables could be grown at home and also on commercial vegetable farming.

2 pm: Topic of the seminar is ‘New trends in preparing gardens.’

May 13:

10 am: ‘High-tech methods in cultivation and marketing’. Speakers will deal with new technologies employed in farming, online sales of farm produce, fertilizers and their use.

May 14:

10 am: ‘New trends in rearing cattle, poultry and fish’ is the topic of the morning seminar. The audience can learn much about how to make profits by rearing buffaloes, poultry farming and pisciculture.

2 pm: The afternoon seminar will deal with ‘Pets – for fun as well as money.’ At the event, experts will speak on maintaining pet animals, birds and fish.

May 15:

10 am: The seminar, ‘Rubber farming – existence and prospects’, will discuss issues such as threat posed by rubber cultivation in other areas to Kerala farmers, rubber prices and international markets and new challenges faced by rubber farmers.

2 pm: Topic of the afternoon seminar is ‘Fruits – a need as well as source of income’. The audience at the programme can earn valuable tips on the prospects of fruit farming and on maintaining fruit trees.

Later, K V Dayal, an advocate of organic farming, will deliver a talk on ‘Organic farming and healthy diet’.