mango mela and mango cultivation

Chandigarh, July 4 - The 17th Mango Mela, which is an annual feature,is being organised jointly by Haryana Tourism and HorticultureDepartment, Haryana at Yadavindra Gardens, Pinjore on 5th and 6thJuly, 2008. This was disclosed by Mr.Raj Kumar, Financial Commissioner &Principal Secretary, Agriculture Department, while addressing a pressconference here today. He said that the main objective of the two-day mango mela was toencourage the farmers to adopt the latest technology to increase theirproduction and improve quality of their produce so that they might getmaximum return from their limited land holdings. The mango mela wouldalso provide a forum to mango growers to sell their produce in thedomestic and international market, he added. He said that it would also provide a common platform to the SelfHelp Groups to display and sell their products. About 30 to 40 SelfHelp groups sponsored by NABARD, PNB, Canara Bank and Khadi & VillageIndustries Board, Haryana were expected to participate in the mela.The Self Help Groups would sell not only the mango based products butalso the handloom and handicrafts products. Craftsmen registered withthe O/o D.C. Handicrafts, Ministry of Textiles, GOI were also expectedto participate in the mela, which would provide them opportunity formarketing of their goods. He stated that the farmers were being imparted training atHorticulture Training Institute, Uchani (Karnal) to encourage them totake up Mango cultivation. Four Food parks at Saha (Ambala), Dabwali(Sirsa), Narwana (Jind) and Rai (Sonipat) were being established bythe State Government to overcome the problems of processing, distresssale and to reduce post harvest losses. The Panipat town in Haryanawas known for its Pickle industry, he added. Giving details of the mela, he stated that the mango mela would beinaugurated by Mr.Harmohinder Singh Chatha, Agriculture Minister,Haryana and Mrs.Kiran Choudhry , Minister of State for tourism Haryanawould preside over the inaugural function. Dr.A.R.Kidwai, Governor,Haryana would grace the prize distribution ceremony. He said that a Food Court would also be set up in the mela, whichwould offer variety of F&B items for the visitors. In order to ensuregood quality of snacks, stalls would be put up by the Food CraftsInstitute,Faridabad, Allied Institute of Hotel Management and CulinaryArts, Panchkula and Hotel & Catering Management Institute, Chandigarh.Further, Taj Group of Hotels, Chandigarh would also put up a stall forsale of F&B items with special emphasis on mango based recipes. TheChef of Taj would also give a Demo of preparing mango based dishes onboth the days of the mela at 11.00 a.m. and at 4.00 p.m. Those whowere interested in learning the latest techniques for the preparationof mango based dishes could participate, he added. Mr.Raj Kumar said that cultural programmes would also be organizedin association with the Director, NZCC, Patiala. "Hasya Kavi Sammelan"would also be organised on July 5 and Folk Dances programme would bepresented by the groups from Punjab, Haryana, Uttrakhand and HimachalPradesh on July 6. Day Performers had also been engaged, who wouldperform Kalbelia Dance–Jaipur, Kacchi Ghori-Jaipur, PuppetShow-Jaipur, Dhol Nagara-Hodal, Bagpiper-Kaithal, Jhangam-Kaithal,Been Sapera-Panipat and Flute/Bansuri-Narwana. In addition, folkdances would also be performed throughout the day by the students fromthe schools of Kalka, Chandigarh and Panchkula, he added. Commissioner & Secretary, Tourism,Mrs. Keshni Anand Arora, statedthat on both the evenings, special cultural programmes would beorganised through the teams deputed by NZCC, Patiala. The attractionsfor the students in the mela were Rangoli, Fancy DressCompetition,Mango Cutout competition and Mango Quiz, etc. She said that a convention hall with the facilities of threeconferencing hall and parking capacity of 500 vehicles was beingconstructed near Hotel Rajhans, which would be completed by the end ofthe next month. Similar, convention halls were also being constructedat Rohtak and Bhiwani. Managing Director, Haryana Tourism Corporation,Mrs. Satwanti Ahlawat stated that the Mango Mela was much awaitedactivity for the residents of Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali. Manyfeatures/competitions had been added to make it more interesting forthe students and for the families. Director Horticulture Haryana, Dr. Satyavir Singh stated thatintensive efforts were being made to provide all facilities to themango growers of the region. The mango mela would provide excellentopportunity for the people to see and taste good quality mangoes. TheDepartment of Horticulture right from its establishment in the year1991 had laid special emphasis on Mango cultivation in Haryana. TheMango Mela, as usual, had display & competition sections in fourcategories i,e Category A & B were for the Mango Growers and theCategory C & D were for the Mango Products, he added. Later replying to a question, Dr.Satyavir Singh said that effortswould be made to export mango from Haryana. Good quality mango wasstill being exported from the State. Scientists from HaryanaAgricultural University, Hisar had been invited to visit the Mela sothat mango growers could be apprised of the latest techniques toimprove the quality of the fruit. He said that the area under mango fruit cultivation had beenincreased from 3553 hectares in 1990-91 to 8900 hectares in 2007-08and its production from 19,900 metric tonnes to 68,000 metric tonnes.A target had been fixed to plant mango trees on 320 hectares ofadditional land in the year 2008-09. Special stress was being laid onpost harvest management of fruit crops. Saplings of fruit trees werebeing planted on the land, on which agriculture crops were not beinggrown so that food grain production might not be affected. The areaunder fruit trees would be doubled by 2011. At present, Haryanaoccupied fifth or sixth place in mango production in the country, headded. He said that budget for Horticulture Department had also beenincreased from a meagre Rs.96 lakh in 2005-06 to Rs.235 crore in2008-09. Subsidy ranging from 25 per cent to 100 per cent was beingprovided on horticulture crops, he added.